T. (Thottakadu) Ramakrishna Pillai

Born in 1854, Thottakadu Ramakrishna Pillai was educated in Conjeevaram and later studied in Madras, where he earned a B.A. in 1876. The Indian Biographical Dictionary notes that he worked as Librarian of the Madras Literary Society before joining the Madras High Court, eventually retiring as a Sub-Assistant Registrar.

He is remembered as a novelist, poet, and travel writer from South India. The South Asian Britain project describes him as a writer whose work was connected to prominent British officials, some of whom wrote introductions to his books, suggesting that his writing reached readers across colonial India and Britain.

His surviving works include poetry such as Tales of Ind, and Other Poems, and he also wrote prose about everyday Indian life. A portrait associated with him survives in the National Portrait Gallery collection, though it is identified only as a possible likeness.