Tom Stoppard, one of Britain's most acclaimed playwrights, died at the age of 88.
He passed away at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family, according to his agents.
Known for his brilliant wordplay and exploration of philosophical themes, Stoppard captivated audiences for over six decades.
His works spanned stage, screen, radio, and television, earning him numerous honors including a knighthood in 1997 for services to literature.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia in 1937, Stoppard fled the Nazi occupation as a child.
His Jewish family moved to Singapore, then to India after his father stayed behind and died during the Japanese invasion.
In India, his mother remarried British army major Kenneth Stoppard, and the family relocated to England.
Stoppard attended boarding school in Yorkshire, where he embraced British culture.
Later, he discovered that all four grandparents were Jewish and had perished in Nazi concentration camps.
Reflecting on this, he described feeling incredibly lucky to have escaped such a fate, viewing it as part of a charmed life.
Stoppard began his career as a journalist in Bristol in 1954, later becoming a theatre critic.
He transitioned to playwriting, achieving breakthrough success with "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1966.
The play, focusing on minor characters from Hamlet, premiered at the National Theatre and on Broadway, winning four Tony Awards in 1968.
Other notable works include "The Real Thing," "Arcadia," considered by many his masterpiece blending chaos theory and history, and "Leopoldstadt," a semi-autobiographical play about a Jewish family in Vienna that won an Olivier and four Tonys.
Stoppard also wrote screenplays, co-authoring "Shakespeare in Love," which earned him an Oscar and Golden Globe.
Tributes poured in from figures like Mick Jagger, who praised his majestic body of intellectual and amusing work, and publisher Faber Books, which hailed him as one of the great intellects of our time.
His plays, characterized by verbal gymnastics and intricate constructions, addressed subjects from mathematics to politics.
Stoppard's enduring influence is captured in the term "Stoppardian," denoting witty philosophical discourse.