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Chilcot inquiry panel member Sir Martin Gilbert dies Winston Churchill biographer Sir Martin Gilbert dies
(35 minutes later)
Sir Martin Gilbert, biographer of Winston Churchill and a member of the inquiry into the Iraq war has died, the panel's chairman has announced. Sir Martin Gilbert, biographer of Sir Winston Churchill and a member of the inquiry into the Iraq war has died, the panel's chairman has announced.
Sir Martin died "peacefully" on Tuesday after "a long and serious illness", the inquiry's Sir John Chilcot said.Sir Martin died "peacefully" on Tuesday after "a long and serious illness", the inquiry's Sir John Chilcot said.
He described Sir Martin as an "extraordinarily eminent historian" and said the Chilcot inquiry had benefited from his "wisdoms and insights". He described Sir Martin, 78, as an "extraordinarily eminent historian" and said the Chilcot inquiry had benefited from his "wisdoms and insights".
Sir John told MPs of Sir Martin's death as he appeared at a Commons committee.Sir John told MPs of Sir Martin's death as he appeared at a Commons committee.
He had been called to the Foreign Affairs Committee to explain delays in publishing the inquiry's official report.He had been called to the Foreign Affairs Committee to explain delays in publishing the inquiry's official report.
Sir John said he wanted to pass on his "personal condolences" to Sir Martin's family.Sir John said he wanted to pass on his "personal condolences" to Sir Martin's family.
The Holocaust Education Trust said in a tweet: "Very sad to hear of the passing of Sir Martin Gilbert, leading Holocaust historian and our great friend.
"Our thoughts are with his family."
Leading historian
In addition to being the official biographer of Winston Churchill, Sir Martin wrote books on the Holocaust, the first and second world wars and Jewish history.
It was in 1962 as a research fellow at Oxford University that he began his work on the life of the war-time leader.
A year after being elected a junior research fellow at Merton College, Oxford, Churchill's son Randolph, who was working on the biography of his father, asked Sir Martin to join his research team.
Following Churchill's death in 1965, and with approval from Randolph, Sir Martin wrote his first book on the former prime minister, a single-volume entitled Winston Churchill that was released in 1966.
After Randolph Churchill died in 1968, Sir Martin was asked to take over his work to complete the Churchill biography, including the main and document volumes.
He would end up publishing numerous volumes of Churchill's biography over the next 20 years.
But it was his book The Holocaust, rather than his writings on Churchill, that generated "by far the most correspondence and contact with individuals whom I would never otherwise have met", Sir Martin said.
This gave him material and ideas he would incorporate into subsequent Holocaust-related books, he said.
Sir Martin was an honorary fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and a distinguished fellow of Hillsdale College, Michigan.