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British historian Sir Martin Gilbert, who studied the Holocaust and was the official biographer of Winston Churchill, has died.

Gilbert died Tuesday after a long illness. He was 78.

Gilbert, the author of 80 books, wrote on the subjects of the Holocaust, World War I and World War II, and Jewish history. Among his books are “A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War,” “Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century,” “Churchill and the Jews” and “Never Again: A History of the Holocaust.”

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He was serving as a member of Britain’s inquiry panel into the Iraq war at the time of his death.

On Tuesday, Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot announced the historian’s death and paid tribute to Gilbert, telling lawmaker on the Foreign Affairs Committee that the inquiry had benefited from his “wisdom and insights,” the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Britain’s 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.”

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