V. D. Swami (born Venkatarma Doraiswami; 1910 1993) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who was one of the founders of the eye hospital Sankara Nethralaya in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

. He is the father of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

Arvind Swamy Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...

Career

Swami was born in 1910 in Melattur in

Tanjore District Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur. The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. As of 2011, Thanjavur district h ...

. In 1956, Swami founded V. D. Swami and Company in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

along with M. V. Subramaniam and T. S. Narayanaswami of Sanmar Group. V. D. Swami and Company are pioneers in the steel

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

business. and one of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

's major wholesalers and retailers. Swami was also one of the promoters of Kaveri Engineering Company Limited, a capital machinery and process machinery manufacturing company based in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

Other activities

In 1962, Swami attended a Bhagavata Mela performance in his native Melattur. Interested in promoting the art outside Melattur, Swami founded the Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natya Vidhya Sangam in 1964. Swami was instrumental in persuading

medical practitioner A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the ...

S. S. Badrinath Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath (24 February 1940 – 21 November 2023) was an Indian ophthalmologist who was the founder and chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya, one of India's largest charitable eye hospitals. He was an elected fellow of th ...

to set up the eye hospital Sankara Nethralaya in Madras. He also designed welfare measures for its employees. The Sankara Nethralaya recognised his efforts by dedicating an auditorium in his memory on the occasion of his birth centenary.

Death

Swami died in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

in 1994 at the age of 83.

Family

Swami was the husband of Bharathnatyam dancer Vasantha Swamy and the father of prominent south Indian actor

Arvind Swami Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swami, V. D. 1910 births 1993 deaths Businesspeople from Chennai People from Thanjavur district