Tiruppur Subrahmanya Avinashilingam Chettiar (5 May 1903 – 21 November 1991) was an Indian lawyer, politician, freedom-fighter and Gandhian. He served as the Education Minister of Madras Presidency from 1946 to 1949 and was responsible for introducing Tamil as the medium of instruction. He is also credited with having commissioned the creation of the first Tamil encyclopedia. Avinashlingam was a devout Gandhian and was a strong follower of Gandhian economics. He was also a renowned social reformer and follower of the Ramakrishna Mission. He also a father of library movement in Tamilnadu.