Christopher Hitchens's Real Name: Christopher Eric Hitchens

Quick answer: The writer was known professionally as Christopher Hitchens. Britannica, the Guardian, and the Library of Congress give the name Christopher Eric Hitchens, place the birth on April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England, and record his death on December 15, 2011.

Real name and early life

Britannica identifies him as Christopher Hitchens, also known as Christopher Eric Hitchens, and places the birth on April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England. The Guardian independently gives the same fuller name in a standing obituary line, "Christopher Eric Hitchens, journalist, born 13 April 1949; died 15 December 2011," and says he was born in Portsmouth to a father who was a naval commander. The Library of Congress Name Authority File independently records the form Hitchens, Christopher (Christopher Eric), 1949-2011, and a birth date of April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England. Britannica says he later attended The Leys School, Cambridge, enrolled at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1967, and graduated in philosophy, politics, and economics in 1970. The Guardian independently mentions the Leys School and Balliol, where he read the same subjects, and says he was a member of the International Socialists from 1966 to 1976.

Career highlights

Britannica says he became a staff writer for the New Statesman in 1973, later wrote the column "Minority Report" for The Nation after moving to Washington, D.C., and began writing a column for Vanity Fair in 1992. The Guardian independently says he became the Nation's Washington correspondent and a contributing editor of Vanity Fair from 1982, a date that differs from Britannica's 1992 column start. Britannica and the Guardian both identify God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) as among his best-known later books. Britannica also names The Missionary Position (1995), the 2010 memoir Hitch-22, and Mortality. The Guardian independently says he authored 11 books, including work on Kissinger, Clinton, and Mother Teresa, and that God Is Not Great was his most successful book.

Death

Britannica says that during the Hitch-22 book tour he announced he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and that he died on December 15, 2011, in Houston, Texas, at age 62. The Guardian independently says he died of oesophageal cancer aged 62, and gives the date 15 December 2011, without naming a city. The Library of Congress independently records the death date December 15, 2011, and places the death in Houston, Texas.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Christopher Hitchens or Christopher Eric Hitchens are looking for the same writer, including the later book God Is Not Great most often associated with his name.