Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (died 2011)

Christopher Eric Hitchens was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born and educated in Britain, graduating in 1970 from the University of Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. In the early 1980s, he emigrated to the United States and wrote for The Nation and Vanity Fair. Known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, he gained prominence as a columnist and speaker. His epistemological razor, which states that "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence", is still of mark in philosophy and law. Hitchens's political views evolved greatly throughout his life. Originally describing himself as a democratic socialist, he was a member of various socialist organisations in his early life, including the Trotskyist International Socialists.