Adele Balasingham

{{Short description|Australian-born Sri Lankan activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Adele Balasingham | image = | caption = | birth_name = Adele Ann Wilby | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|1|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Warragul, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | other_names = | education = | occupation = Trainer of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's women's wing, Author | employer = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse =Anton Balasingham | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | website = | signature = | footnotes = }} '''Adele Ann Balasingham''' (born 30 January 1950), ({{née|'''Wilby'''}}), is the Australian-born former leader of the women's wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka.<ref name="ref1">[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/16/1032054762355.html A chain of gold ... but no smile on the face of the Australian Tiger]</ref><ref name="Alison 2009 p. 83">{{cite book | last=Alison | first=M. | title=Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in Ethno-National Conflict | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Contemporary Security Studies | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-134-22893-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67Z_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 | access-date=13 May 2023 | page=83}}</ref>

==Biography== She was born in Warragul, Victoria in Australia. She became a professional nurse and worked in Gippsland, 150 km from Melbourne. She eventually migrated to the United Kingdom where in 1978 she met and married Sri Lankan-born British citizen Anton Balasingham. Mr. Balasingham later became the chief strategist and peace negotiator for the LTTE in Sri Lanka. Her husband Anton died on 14 December 2006.<ref>[https://archive.today/20110604093044/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2505422,00.html Anton Balasingham, obituary] in The Times</ref>

==Eelam Tamil supporter==

Adele Balasingham moved with her husband initially to Madras in India, then on to the northern part of Sri Lanka in Jaffna during the early stages of the Sri Lankan civil war. She worked for the welfare of women in the Tamil community who were adversely affected by the war.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tamilnation.org/books/eelam/willtofreedom.htm | title=TAMIL NATION LIBRARY: EELAM | publisher=Tamil Nation | accessdate=13 May 2023}}</ref>

==Peace negotiator== She later participated as part of the LTTE peace negotiating team in numerous peace talks with the various Sri Lankan government negotiating teams since 2002. She is also the author of a number of books including "''Women Fighters of Liberation Tigers''" (1993) and the semi-autobiographical ''The Will to Freedom''. {{ISBN|1-903679-03-6}}<ref name="ref1" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=123&id=702 |title=Adele; securing a remedy |access-date=15 December 2006 |archive-date=3 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203125018/http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=123&id=702 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=7359 | title=LTTE decides on delegation for talks | publisher=Tamilnet | date=27 August 2002 | accessdate=13 May 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilby, Adele}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Sri Lankan rebels Category:People from Warragul Category:Australian feminists Category:British feminists Category:Australian activists Category:Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam members Category:Australian emigrants to Sri Lanka Category:Australian emigrants to England Category:Women in war in South Asia