Xavier Thaninayagam

He chose the surname Thaninayagam (literally "lone hero") after becoming a Roman Catholic priest.

During his younger days, he learnt and became fluent in many European languages such as English, Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

During 1961–66, he served as the Dean, Faculty of Arts and as head of the Indian studies department at the University of Malaya.

IATR went on to become the primary body directing research in all fields related to Tamil and has since organised seven more such conferences.

Leaving Malaysia in 1969, Thaninayagam taught at the universities of Paris and Naples before retiring and returning home to Sri Lanka.