Vincent Florence Joseph, ex LTTE member and  famous literary translator passes away in Jaffna

Vincent Florence Joseph (Arulalan), former member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a famous literary translator, passed away last Sunday.

He died due to illness at his home in Kurunagar, Jaffna. He was 71 years old at the time of his death. He joined the LTTE regardless of his age when the Jaffna district was under LTTE control. His only daughter joined the LTTE and was martyred during a battle in Vanni.

Joseph did his schooling at St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna and later did his engineering degree at the University of Moratuwa.

Joseph has translated more than 80  liberation related literary  books. Hundreds of his translated works have been published in Eelanaadu, Eelanatham, Velichcham, Aathaaram and several other English and Tamil Websites. From the day the Tamil Diplomat was started until his last days, he sent daily news and articles.

His translated books include The Founding of Israel: The Journey to a Jewish Homeland from Abraham to the Holocaust and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. He also published a collection of African poems entitled “Let’s Fall on the Field” under pseudonym ‘Arulalan’.

After the final war in Mullivaikkal, Joseph was detained in Boosa Detention camp under the control of TID and released after torture. After his release, he lived at his native house in Kurunagar, Jaffna. After his release from the detention camp, he had been teaching English and computer to rehabilitated ex- LTTE carders  with the aim of  empowering their lives.

There had been incidents of  military intelligence taking him to Colombo for inquiries even after his release from the Boosa camp.