Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (born 1954)

Velupillai Prabhakaran

Velupillai Prabhakaran was an Eelam Tamil revolutionary, guerrilla leader and a major figure of Tamil nationalism, being the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE was a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka in reaction to the oppression of the country's Tamil population by the Sri Lankan government. Under his direction, the LTTE undertook a military campaign against the Sri Lankan government for more than 25 years.

Born

1954

November 26

Died

2009

Era

1950s

Country

—

About

Velupillai, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1954 Born
2009 Died

Also on November 26

What else happened on this day, through history

783 The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her nephew from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
1161 Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin–Song Wars.
1346 Having been elected German king at Rhens on 11 July 1346, Charles IV is crowned King of Germany by bishop Walram of Cologne in Bonn.
1476 Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.

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The world in 1954

When Velupillai arrived

april 1 United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
april 18 Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
april 22 Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
april 25 The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on November 26

Anuel AA 1992– Puerto Rican rapper and singer Charles Adolphe Wurtz 1817– Alsatian-French chemist (died 1884) Chris Osgood 1972– Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster Cyril Cusack 1910–1993 South African-born Irish actor (died 1993) Daniel Petrie 1920–2004 Canadian director and producer (born 1920) Eugène Ionesco 1909–1994 Romanian-French playwright and critic (born 1909) James Guy 1995– English swimmer Jan Stenerud 1942– Norwegian-American football player Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan 1678–1771 French geophysicist and astronomer (born 1678)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1954

Alan Kulwicki 1954–1993 American race car driver (born 1954) Annie Lennox 1954– Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist Archie Griffin 1954– American football player Chris Huhne 1954– English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Clem Burke 1954–2025 American drummer (born 1954) Cliff Martinez 1954– American drummer and songwriter David Keith 1954– American actor and director David Lee Roth 1954– American singer-songwriter and producer Dawn Primarolo 1954– English politician

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More to explore

Velupillai's birthday November 26 Velupillai's zodiac Sagittarius When Velupillai arrived 1954