Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died aged 87

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an icon and champion of women's rights, has died of cancer aged 87, the court said.

Earlier this year, Ginsburg revealed that she was undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer that began in 1999.  She died of metastatic pancreatic cancer on Friday at her home in Washington DC, surrounded by her family, a statement said.

"Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement on Friday. "We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her - a tireless and resolute champion of justice."

According to the Associated Press, hundreds of people gathered outside the Supreme Court on Friday night to hold a candelight vigil, as they wept and mourned the loss of a true trailblazer.

Former President of the United States, Barack Obama, wrote of Ginsburg's passing:

"Over a long career on both sides of the bench — as a relentless litigator and an incisive jurist — Justice Ginsburg helped us see that discrimination on the basis of sex isn’t about an abstract ideal of equality; that it doesn’t only harm women; that it has real consequences for all of us. It’s about who we are — and who we can be."

You can read his full statement here.

President Trump tweeted a statement on the news of Ginsburg's passing, which hailed her as a "titan of the law" and a "brilliant mind".

Tributes have been flooding in on social media, as well.

Hilary Clinton wrote on Twitter, "Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me. There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG."

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Cindy McCain wrote, "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a warrior for equality, a trailblazer jurist and a champion of civility. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones at this time."

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Born to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1933, Ruth Bader Ginsburg studied at Harvard Law, per the BBC, where she finished top of her class. Despite this, she did not receive a single job offer after graduating. Yet Ginsburg persisted, and would go on to have a remarkable legal career spanning six decades, during which she was nominated to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton in 1993. She was only the second woman ever to be confirmed to the court.