Cambridge: Prof.Stephen Hawking, physicist and author, who was best known for his work on black holes, passed away today at the age of 76, a family representative informed the media.

Hawking was former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of ‘A Brief History of Time,’ an international bestseller. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.

In a statement issued, his children Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: “We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired  people across the world.

Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the US National Academy of Science. He contracted motor neurone disease in 1963 and was then told he had just two years to live. From 1979 to 2009 he held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663. Prof. Hawking was also the subject of the 2014 film ‘The Theory Of Everything.’