Hugh Gaitskell manner of death natural causes
Death
In mid-December 1962, Gaitskell fell ill with flu, but he was declared well enough by his doctor to travel to the Soviet Union, where he met the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for talks. Upon his return to Britain his condition deteriorated after he contracted another virus. On 4 January 1963 he was admitted to Middlesex Hospital in Marylebone, where, despite enormous efforts by doctors to save his life, he died on 18 January, with his wife at his bedside. He had died from complications following a sudden flare-up of lupus, an autoimmune disease which had affected his heart and kidneys. He was 56. Gaitskell's body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. His ashes are buried in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead Church, north London. His wife died in 1989 and was buried alongside him.
The shock of Gaitskell's death was comparable to that of the sudden death of the later Labour Party leader John Smith, in May 1994, when he too seemed to be on the threshold of 10 Downing Street. Gaitskell had inherited £14,000 (around £800,000 at 2015 prices) from an aunt in April 1938, which was invested for him and multiplied several times (at a time of relatively high inflation) by a friend in the City. Gaitskell appears to have largely ignored this sum of capital, and his wife had no idea of his wealth. His estate was valued for probate at £80,013-10s-0d on 23 April 1963 (around £1.7m at 2020 prices).Beginning with his time as a minister under Attlee, Gaitskell kept a diary until 1956. The diary is an important primary source for the politics of the era.
cause of death mode of death method of death way of dying circumstances of death