Anglo-American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died aged 62.
Mr Hitchens had been undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year, but died aged 62 at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, last night.
Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, where Mr Hitchens was a contributing editor, paid tribute on the magazine's website.
"Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from, dare I say, God," he wrote.
"He died today at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre, in Houston, after a punishing battle with oesophageal cancer, the same disease that killed his father”.
Over the course of his career the self-confessed contrarian gleefully picked fights with political opponents, Nobel Peace Prize winners and religious believers of all faiths.
Hitchens published scores of books, thousands of articles and made countless television appearances where he could always be relied upon to provide a stream of serious but witty put-downs.
The publication of his 2007 book 'God Is Not Great' made him a major celebrity in his adopted homeland of the United States - he became a US citizen the same year - and he happily took on the role of the country's best-known atheist.
He maintained his devout atheism after being diagnosed with cancer in 2010, telling one interviewer: "No evidence or argument has yet been presented which would change my mind. But I like surprises."
The son of a naval officer, he was born in Portsmouth and educated at private school and Oxford University.
His early career in journalism saw him write for The New Statesman where he became associated with a group of young writers including Martin Amis, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie.
Hitchens was promoting his memoirs, Hitch-22, when he was diagnosed with cancer.
He did not stop working, telling one interviewer: "I was very afraid that it would stop me writing. I was really petrified with fear about that because I thought that would, among other things, diminish my will to live.
"Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do."
Hitchens is survived by his wife and three children.
