Dr.U.V.SwaminathaIyer(1855-1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular effort over five decades brought to light major literary works in Tamil and contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage. Dr. Iyer published over 91 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to classical Tamil literature, and collected 3067 paper manuscripts, palm leaf manuscripts and notes of various kinds. He is affectionly called as "Tamil Thatha" (Tamil Grandfather)
Utthamadhanapuraam Venkatasubramanian Swaminathan was born on February 19, 1855 C.E. in the village of Suriaymoolai in the house of his maternal grandfather, near Kumbakonam in present-day Tamil Nadu. His father, Venkatasubbaiyer, was a musician and Sivakatha exponent who earned his living by giving discourses on the Hindu texts; by the nature of his profession, he travelled a lot. Observing his son's aptitude, Venkatasubbaiyer made all efforts to educate the boy and put him in the care and tutelage of noted Tamil scholars.
Swaminatha Iyer had his early education in Tamil under some teachers in his native village. Although his father Venkatasubbaiyer, a musician, wanted his son to learn music, Swaminatha Iyer was inclined to concentrate on Tamil. When he was 17, he became a disciple of Mahavidwan Meenakshisundaram Pillai, a Tamil scholar, who was in the service of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in the old Thanjavur district. This was one of the wealthy Saiva mutts in Tamil Nadu, which patronised Tamil teachers and men of letters and propagated its religious philosophy through them. Swaminatha Iyer learnt Tamil under the guidance of Meenakshisundaram Pillai for five years. During this period, he earned the goodwill of the mutt head, himself a Tamil scholar.
After a few years of study in Kunnam, Swaminatha Iyer moved to Mayavaram and continued his study of Tamil literature with Meenakshisundaram Pillai.
Tyagaraja Chettiar was the head of the Tamil Department at the Government College, Kumbakonam. A student of Meenakshisundaram Pillai, he was a man of great erudition and was held in high esteem alike by his pupils and by the public. When Chettiar retired, he recommended that Swaminatha Iyer be invited to take his place. Swaminatha Iyer was duly appointed to that post on February 16, 1880. During his tenure at the College, Swaminatha Iyer met Ramaswami Mudaliar. The friendship between them proved to be a turning point in Swaminatha Iyer's life. Mudaliar was responsible for persuading Iyer to edit and publish the ancient Tamil classics. Swaminatha Iyer had till then confined his enjoyment of Tamil literature to medieval works. Mudaliar also gave him a handwritten copy of Seevaga Sindhamani for publication.
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