The wife of Dr Pete Newbon, an academic and prominent campaigner against antisemitism who passed away on Saturday, has opened up about how his death broke her into “a million unbearably painful pieces”.

Dr Newbon, a senior humanities lecturer at Northumbria University and a director of the anti-racism group Labour Against Antisemitism (LAA), also leaves young three daughters.

His wife, writer and academic Rachel Hewitt (below with Dr Newbon) wrote on Twitter: “Pete Newbon was my best friend, my partner-in-crime, my beautiful, kind husband, a brilliant reader & scholar, the best daddy in the world to our three beautiful daughters, and I just don’t know how we’re going to bear his loss. I’m broken into a million unbearably painful pieces,” she said. 

Friends of Dr Newbon have appealed for short recollections from loved ones to include in a book for the family.

Helen Lewis, a journalist who organised it, hailed a “beloved father, principled campaigner and kind, funny friend”.

Activists joined in on tributes, with LAA spokesperson Fiona Sharpe praising the “kind, generous and decent man who will be desperately missed by all who knew him”. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was “extremely sad to learn of the passing of Pete Newbon, who dedicated himself to fighting antisemitism”.

The Jewish Labour Movement offered its deepest condolences as it described the former Labour member as a “steadfast fighter against antisemitism in our party”.

Dr Newbon was involved last year in a public spat with prominent left-wing activist and writer Michael Rosen over a tweet. The tweet features a picture of Jeremy Corbyn reading Rosen’s famous children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to children. Dr Newbon shared an image that made it seem that Mr Corbyn was reading the Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion. The text above the image, in an echo of the book, read: “A nasty, horrible Zionist! We can’t go over him, we can’t go under him, we’ll have to make an effigy...”

Mr Rosen, condemned the tweet as “loathsome and antisemitic”. 

The Spectator reported earlier this month that Dr Newbon was pursuing a defamation claim against Mr Rosen.