M. Karunanidhi, Indian politician, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and prominent leader of Tamils (born 1924)

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, also known as Kalaignar (Artist), was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. He was also a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957. Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir. A such, he is also referred to as Mutthamizh Arignar for his contributions to Tamil literature. Dravida Kazhagam prominent leader Pattukkottai Alagiri conferred the title Kalaignar on him during "Thookumedi" drama. Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.