A R Venkatachalapathy is an Indian historian, author and translator who writes and publishes in Tamil and English. Currently he is a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He is noted for collecting and publishing the works of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan. Venkatachalapathy obtained his B.Com degree from University of Madras in 1987 and his MA in History from Madurai Kamaraj University in 1989. He received his PhD in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1995. His dissertation was titled "A Social History of Tamil Publishing, (1850–1938)". Venkatachalapathy worked in the History Department of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University from 1995 to 2000 and that of University of Madras from 2000 to 2001. 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. He is best known for collecting and publishing the works of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan in 2000. In 2000, he published his most noted work Andha kaalathil kaapi illai (Kalachuvadu) in Tamil. Later he published an English Version – In Those Days There Was No Coffee, (Yoda Press, 2006). He currently serves in the advisory board of the Tamil iyal virudhu, an annual award given by Tamil Literary Garden, a Canada-based organisation. He is regularly involved in 'The Hindu Literary Festival' (The Hindu Lit for Life) annual events as a speaker, interviewer, resource person etc. He also reviews books in The Hindu. In 2007, he was awarded the V. K. R. V. Rao prize in Social Science Research. He also writes columns for The Hindu, Frontline, Outlook, India Today, Dinamalar and Kalachuvadu magazine.