Venkatachalapathy is an Indian historian, author and translator who writes and publishes in Tamil and English.
Since June 2001, he has been a faculty member of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).
His main areas of research are social and cultural history of colonial Tamil Nadu.
In 2000, he published his most noted work Andha kaalathil kaapi illai (Kalachuvadu) in Tamil.
He also writes columns for The Hindu, Frontline, Outlook, India Today, Dinamalar and Kalachuvadu magazine.