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Christopher Eric Hitchens

クリストファー・エリック・ヒッチェンズ

Kurisutofoa Erikku Hitchenzu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-04-13 （Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom）
Died
2011-12-15 （Houston, Texas, United States） age 62
Nationality
United Kingdom, United States
Languages
English
Religion
Atheism (Antitheism) / identified Jewish descent
Residence History
Portsmouth (birth) → London (residence/work) → New York (long-term residence, writing) → Houston (treatment)

Career

Occupations
Author, Journalist, Essayist, Columnist, Critic, Visiting professor
Active Years
1971-2011
Affiliations
New Statesman (contributor/editorial roles), The Nation (contributor), Vanity Fair (contributor), Slate (columnist), The Atlantic (essayist/contributor), Hoover Institution (media fellow), Secular Coalition for America (advisory board)
Memberships
International Socialists (early membership), Labour Party (early membership)
Influenced By
George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Arthur Koestler, Karl Marx, Martin Amis
Influenced
Subsequent public intellectuals and polemicists, Secular activists and New Atheism figures

Education

Balliol College, University of Oxford
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)
Degree: 第三等学位（third-class degree）
Period: 1967–1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United Kingdom
Read PPE at Oxford; graduated with a third-class degree.

Awards

Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction
1991
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Magazine Award (Columns and Commentary)
2007
Work: Columns for Vanity Fair
Category: Columns and Commentary
Organization: Magazine Publishers of America
Result: 受賞
National Magazine Award (Columns about Cancer)
2011
Work: Columns about cancer (Vanity Fair, etc.)
Category: Columns and Commentary
Organization: Magazine Publishers of America
Result: 受賞
National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography) — finalist
2010
Work: Hitch-22 (memoir)
Category: 自伝
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 最終候補
Asteroid named 57901 Hitchens
2011
Organization: Named in honour (reported)
Result: 命名

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

2007 Polemic / Critique of religion 304 pages

A polemic arguing that organised religion harms society and that Enlightenment values and reason provide a better ethical foundation; uses historical and cultural examples to critique religion.

Critique of religionEnlightenmentFree thought
Translations
  • Translated into multiple languages (including Japanese)

Hitch-22: A Memoir

2010 Memoir / Essays 400 pages

A memoir reflecting on Hitchens's life, political and intellectual evolution, including candid personal recollections and reflections on controversies.

Autobiographical reflectionIntellectual controversiesPolitical evolution

The Trial of Henry Kissinger

2001 Investigative non-fiction / Biography 448 pages

Examines Henry Kissinger's foreign policy and raises questions about the ethics and legality of his actions, sharply critical of alleged war crimes and responsibility.

Foreign policy critiqueWar responsibilityPolitical ethics

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice

1995 Non-fiction / Critique 240 pages

A controversial critique examining Mother Teresa's work and highlighting perceived political and religious problems behind charitable activities.

Biographical critiqueReligion and politicsEthical scrutiny

Bibliography

  • Hostage to History: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger
  • The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
  • The Trial of Henry Kissinger
  • God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
  • Hitch-22: A Memoir
  • Mortality

Adaptations

  • Collision (film: related to 'Is Christianity Good for the World?' debates)
  • Best of Enemies (posthumous documentary appearances/footage)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Polemical and provocativeWitty rhetoricErudite argumentationClear and sharp rhetoric
Recurring Motifs
Critique of religionDefense of Enlightenment valuesAnti-totalitarianismEthical critique of culture and politics

Health

  • Oesophageal cancer
    2010–2011
    Underwent treatment from 2010; illness limited activity and contributed to his death.
  • Pneumonia (complication)
    2011（最終的な死因）
    Contributed as a complication leading to his death in December 2011.

Legacy

Christopher Hitchens was a public intellectual known for his sharp polemics and wide-ranging erudition, becoming a leading critic of religion and defender of Enlightenment values. As a journalist, essayist and polemicist he influenced public debate; his legacy continues via prizes and ongoing discussion of free expression.

Academic Societies

  • National Secular Society (honorary)
  • Freedom From Religion Foundation (honorary board)

Archives

  • Vanity Fair contributor archives
  • The Nation contributor archives
  • The Atlantic contributor archives

In Popular Culture

  • The fan-coined term 'hitch-slap' (a crafted retort to humiliate opponents)
  • Frequent appearances in debates and documentaries; became a subject of popular cultural discussion

Quotes

  • What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
    Source: Known as 'Hitchens's razor' (2007)
  • My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended...
    Source: Public remark (on political views) (2009)

Trivia

  • One of the prominent figures of New Atheism (one of the 'Four Horsemen')
  • Asteroid 57901 Hitchens named in his honour in 2011
  • Long-term US resident from the 1980s; became a US citizen in 2007