(Bloomberg) -- Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume has died, according to a statement from his family.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that John passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning after a short illness,” according to the statement.

“John was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather and a brother. He was very much loved, and his loss will be deeply felt by all his extended family.”

Hume was one of the chief architects of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that ended the conflict among paramilitary groups and British security forces in Northern Ireland. During the era known as the Troubles, he agitated for an end to discrimination against Catholics before convincing governments and militants alike that only a power-sharing accord could end the violence that cost 3,500 lives over three decades.

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