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In this Oct. 20, 2012, file photo activist Noam Chomsky stands during a press conference to support the Gaza-bound flotilla in the port of Gaza City. (AP)
Claims that linguist Noam Chomsky is dead are not true, family says
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Noam Chomsky’s wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, told The Associated Press the linguist was alive.
Viral social media posts claimed famed linguistics scholar Noam Chomsky died. But his family said that’s not true.
A June 18 post on Threads said: "RIP Professor Noam Chomsky!! You made this world a better place!!" A different Threads post said: "RIP TO A REAL ONE," featuring Chomsky’s photo.
Similar claims were posted on X.
The Threads posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.)
Chomsky’s wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, told The Associated Press and Agence France-Press on June 18 that the reports were "false." She also told ABC News journalist Chris Looft, "He is well."
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Noam Chomsky, 95, was discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital on June 18 where he was receiving treatment for a 2023 stroke, hospital administrators said in a statement published by Brazilian media.
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Jacobin Magazine and The New Statesman, two outlets where Chomsky has published articles, reported that he died. The outlets have since removed their obituaries of him. An article celebrating Chomsky’s life and work is live on Jacobin’s website with a correction appended: "This article was tagged as an obituary following erroneous reports of Noam Chomsky’s death." The New Statesman acknowledged the error and apologized to the Chomsky family and former Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose writing the magazine had used in its obituary.
Chomsky’s official Facebook page had no new update on his condition as of June 21. PolitiFact contacted a correspondence email listed on Chomsky’s website but did not receive a response. The University of Arizona, where Chomsky is a laureate professor of linguistics, has also not published news about his death.
We rate the claim that Chomsky died False.
Our Sources
Threads post (archived link), Jun. 18, 2024
Threads post (archived link), Jun. 18, 2024
The Associated Press, Noam Chomsky’s wife says reports of famed linguist’s death are false, Jun. 18, 2024
Agence France-Presse, Noam Chomsky discharged from Sao Paolo hospital, Jun. 18, 2024
Brasil de Fato, After rumors about death, Noam Chomsky is discharged from hospital in Brazil, Jun. 19, 2024
Facebook, Noam Chomsky, accessed Jun. 21, 2024
The Associated Press, Linguist and activist Noam Chomsky hospitalized in his wife’s native country of Brazil after stroke, Jun. 11, 2024
Folha de S.Paulo, Noam Chomsky suffered a stroke in 2023 and is recovering in Brazil, Jun. 11, 2024
Common Dreams, 'Manufacturing obituaries': media falsely reports Noam Chomsky's death, Jun. 18, 2024
CBC News, Noam Chomsky told us to question the media. This week, the media reported he had died, Jun. 19, 2024
Jacobin magazine, Let’s celebrate Noam Chomsky, the intellectual and moral giant, Jun. 18, 2024
The New Statesman, Noam Chomsky, accessed Jun. 20, 2024
The New Statesman, (archived link), accessed Jun. 20, 2024
Jacobin magazine, (archived link), accessed Jun. 21, 2024
X post, Yanis Varoufakis (archived link), Jun. 18, 2024
The Times of India, Noam Chomsky for beginners: What you ought to know about world’s greatest living intellectual, Jun. 19, 2024
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Claims that linguist Noam Chomsky is dead are not true, family says
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