According to records held at the Brighton probate office, Hobsbawm – who joined the Communist Party at 14 and once described himself as an ‘unrepentant communist’ – left an estate with assets totalling £1,835,341.

The bulk is to be held in trust, with the income going to his second wife Marlene. The couple were married for 50 years.

Hobsbawm left the capital of the trust to the University of Warwick and his two children from his second marriage – digital entrepreneur Andy, 50, and PR guru Julia.

His son Joshua Bennathan, 55, who was born from an affair with Marion Bennathan that took place between his first and second marriage was left just £3,000.

Hobsbawm, who lived in a six-bedroom semi-detached house in Hampstead, north London, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and lived in Vienna and Berlin before his parents died.