British author Christopher Hitchens dies

Hitchens is best remembered for his atheist views and his criticism of Pope Ratzinger and his 2010 visit to the UK.

The controversial atheist had been undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year, but died aged 62 from pneumonia, a complication of the oesophageal cancer he was suffering from, at a Texas hospital on Thursday night.

Vanity Fair for whom Hitchens was a contributing editor said there would "never be another like Christopher".

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter described the outspoken author as someone "of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar".

He was diagnosed with cancer in June 2010, and had documented his declining health in his Vanity Fair column.

He is survived by his wife, Carol Blue, and their daughter, Antonia, and his children from a

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth in 1949 and graduated from Oxford in 1970. He began his career as a journalist in Britain in the 1970s and later moved to New York, becoming contributing editor to Vanity Fair in November 1992.

Hitchens, a columnist and literary critic, often appeared on television talk shows and gave lectures in various countries. The publication of his book God Is Not Great made him a major celebrity in his adopted homeland of the United States, of which he became a citizen in 2007.

He wrote for numerous publications including The Times Literary Supplement, the Daily Express, the London Evening Standard, Newsday and The Atlantic.

He was the author of 17 books, including The Trial of Henry Kissinger, God is not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything, and a memoir, Hitch-22.

Radicalised by the 1960s, Hitchens was often arrested at political rallies and was kicked out of the Labour Party over his opposition to the Vietnam War.

He became a correspondent for International Socialism magazine. In later life he moved away from the left. Following the 9/11 attacks he argued with Noam Chomsky and other writers who were highly critical of US foreign policy. He controversially supported the Second Gulf War and backed George W Bush for re-election in 2004.