T. V. Sambasivam Pillai

Pillai was born on 19 September 1880 in Bangalore. He was the eldest son of Vilviah Manniar and Manonmani Ammal. His family was from the village of Kamuganchenthangudi, near Tanjore, and later migrated to Bangalore. A plague outbreak in Bangalore eventually led his family to return to their village. Pillai completed his education in Bangalore and was later appointed as a clerk in the Chennai City Police Commissioner's office. In recognition of his work, in 1949, the Government of Tamil Nadu, University of Madras and University of Mysore sanctioned 5000 rupees each as financial assistance for his research and accommodation at Triplicane, Chennai. Pillai died on 12 November 1953. ==Works==

Pillai spent nearly 16 years collecting material for the Tamil-English Dictionary of Medicine, Chemistry, Botany, and Applied Sciences. In 1938, he compiled and published two volumes of his work at his own expense, but could only partially publish the third volume. The remaining part was published with assistance from the Government of Tamil Nadu. The fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1977 and 1978, respectively by G. D. Naidu and his son G. D. N. Gopal. Pillai's dictionary provides information about plants, minerals, metals, and animals used in Siddha medicine. Consisting of five volumes, it spans 6,537 pages and contains nearly 80,000 words. The work provides translations for Tamil words in English and describes and explains each word with appropriate annotations. The dictionary was renamed The Greatness of Siddha Medicine and was published at the second World Tamil Research Conference, held in Chennai in 1968. The dictionary is cited in academic research related to Siddha medicine and Tamil literature. ==References==