Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran ( listen ( Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் November 26, 1954 – May 19, 2009) was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers), a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.įor over 25 years, the LTTE waged a violent secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka to create an independent state for the Tamil people.
