Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer
A Dinamalar newspaperman who rose from advertising executive to joint managing editor and founded colleges near Madurai, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer joined the Tamil daily Dinamalar in 1956 as an advertising executive and rose to be its joint managing editor. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of literature and education, from Tamil Nadu [1].
A life in newspapers
Ramasubbaiyer was born on 17 June 1935 [2]. He studied chemistry at Travancore University and newspaper management with the Thomson Foundation in Britain, including a diploma at Cardiff in 1970 [2]. He is credited with bringing new printing and newspaper technology into the industry [2].
He has chaired the Press Trust of India three times, and led the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Indian Newspaper Society and the Indian Languages Newspapers Association [2].
Colleges without capitation fees
Through his Subbalakshmi Lakshmipathy Foundation, he set up a school, arts and science college, business school, maritime training institute and engineering college near Madurai [2]. For more than thirty years they have offered job-oriented courses to rural students on merit, without capitation fees [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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