Christopher Hitchens

Birth Name: Christopher Eric Hitchens

Date of Birth: 13 April, 1949

Place of Birth: Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, U.K.

Date of Death: December 15, 2011

Place of Death: Houston, Texas, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, 3/16ths Ashkenazi Jewish, small amount of Welsh

Christopher Hitchens was a British author, literary critic, journalist, and educator. He was also an American citizen. He was known for his controversial political stances, and for his criticism of religion.

Christopher was the son of Yvonne Jean, who was a wren during WII, and Eric Ernest Hitchens, a Royal Navy officer. His father was of English, and a small amount of Welsh, ancestry. Christopher’s mother was of English, and three eighths Ashkenazi Jewish, descent, and was born into the Jewish religion. Christopher’s mother did not disclose the fact that she was Jewish to her children.

His brother is conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator Peter Hitchens. Christopher was married to American screenwriter Carol Blue, until his death. He had two children with his former wife Eleni Meleagrou; and a daughter with Carol. His nephew is journalist and editor Dan Hitchens, who is Peter’s son.

Christopher’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to Isaac Hitchens, who was born, c. 1768, in Devizes, Wiltshire, England.

Christopher’s paternal grandfather was Alfred Ernest Hitchens (the son of James Hitchens and Mary Susan Tarrant). Alfred was born in Portsea District, Hampshire. James was the son of George Hitchens and Avice/Avis Chivers. Mary was the daughter of Thomas Tarrant and Susanna Monday.

Christopher’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Marianne Gardner (the daughter of Ishmael Somers Gardner and Elizabeth Ann Rule). Christopher’s grandmother Elizabeth was born in Portsea District, Hampshire. Ishmael was the son of Ishmael Gardner and Mary Ann Summers. Christopher’s great-grandmother Elizabeth was born in Rhymney, Monmouthshire, Wales, the daughter of Henry Rule and Elizabeth.

Christopher’s maternal grandfather was Lionel Frederick William Hickman (the son of Reginald Francis Hickman and Eleanor Jane Harbud). Christopher’s grandfather Lionel was born in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. Lionel converted to Judaism when marrying Christopher’s maternal grandmother. Reginald was the son of Richard John Hickman and Sarah Etheldreda Vigers. Eleanor was the daughter of Joseph Harbud and Eleanor Jane Perkins.

Christopher’s maternal grandmother was Dorothy Levin/Lynn (the daughter of Lionel Eustace Levin and Rachel Blumenthal). Dorothy was born in Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire. Lionel was born to a Jewish family, of Polish Jewish, German Jewish, Austrian Jewish, and Czech Jewish descent. He was the son of Joseph Levin and Bluma/Bertha Bleine Barnett, whose own father, Raphael Barnett, born in Krotoszyn, Poland, was a rabbi. Christopher’s great-grandmother Rachel was the daughter of Nathan ben Mordechai Blumenthal, a Jewish emigrant from Kempen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, who was of German Jewish and Latvian Jewish descent; and of Sarah Elizabeth Suffolk.

Christopher’s matrilineal great-great-grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Suffolk was born in Leicester, to an English Christian family, the daughter of John Suffolk and Elizabeth Faulkner. Sarah Elizabeth Suffolk converted to Judaism when marrying Christopher’s great-great-grandfather, Nathaniel Blumenthal. As such, Christopher was considered Jewish through matrilineal descent (a topic he had written about).

Source: Genealogy of Christopher Hitchens – http://www.geni.com