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Christopher Hitchens Facts

Christopher Hitchens Facts
Christopher Hitchens was an English-born writer best known for the controversial topics he chose to debate and write about. He was born Christopher Eric Hitchens, on April 13th, 1949, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England to Eric Ernest Hitchens, and Yvonne Jean Hitchens, both of whom served in the Royal Navy during World War II. Christopher attended Mount House School in Tavestock when he was eight years old. His education continued at Leys School in Cambridge and then Balliol College at Oxford where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He became a member of the political left, and graduated with a bachelor's in 1970.
Interesting Christopher Hitchens Facts:
After graduation from Balliol, Christopher Hitchens moved to London and wrote for Times Higher Education Supplement.
Christopher Hitchens went to work for the political left weekly New Statesman in 1973. While working there he met the authors Ian McEwan and Martin Amis.
Christopher Hitchen's mother committed suicide in Athens in 1973, and Christopher flew there to collect his mother's body. While in Greece he wrote what would become his first lead article for the New Statesman.
In 1977 Christopher left New Statesman to work at Daily Express. In 1979 he returned to the New Statesman as a foreign editor.
Christopher Hitchens married Eleni Meleagrou in 1981. They divorced in 1989.
In 1981 Christopher Hitchens moved to New York City, and then went on to Washington a year later. While writing his column 'Minority Report' for The Nation, he also wrote the books Cyprus (1984), and The Elgin Marbles: Should They Be Returned to Greece? (1987).
Christopher Hitchen's father died of cancer in 1987.
In 1989 Christopher HItchen's friend Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses, which would result in death threats and a fatwa calling for Rushdie's murder. Christopher backed his friend but when other members of the left did not, Christopher denounced the left.
Christopher Hitchens' books The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain's Favorite Fetish and Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies were both published in 1990.
In 1991 Christopher Hitchens married Carol Blue, and they remained together until his death in 2011.
Christopher Hitchens work often attacked public figures that the public had worshipped to the point of making them god-like.
In 1992 Christopher Hitchens began to work for Vanity Fair.
Christopher Hitchens wrote a book criticizing Mother Teresa for her support of dictators, titled The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice in 1995.
In 1999 Christopher Hitchens' book criticizing U.S. President Bill Clinton was published. It was titled No One Left to Lie To: The Traingulations of William Jefferson Clinton.
Christopher Hitchens eventually considered himself an atheist. His book God is Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, was published in 2007. This book criticized almost every religion.
Christopher Hitchens' memoir titled Hitch-22 was published in 2010.
Christopher Hitchens is considered to be one of the leading intellectual writers of his time. He had no trouble offending his readers by stating his controversial stance on various issues related to politics, religion, art, literature and war.
Christopher Hitchens died on December 15th, 2011 at the age of 62. He died of esophageal cancer, the same type of cancer that killed his father.


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