PoliticsNational and Dravidian movements
Death of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai
Nationalist pioneer V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, who had started the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, died in Thoothukudi.
In 1906 V. O. Chidambaram Pillai launched the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company as an Indian rival to British vessels on the Tuticorin to Colombo route. A sedition conviction followed in 1908, and his time in jail was severe. Afterwards he devoted himself to organising workers, to writing and to Tamil learning. Thoothukudi was where he died in 1936, and he is honoured with the name Kappalottiya Tamizhan.
