Profile Text
Birth Name: Avram Noam Chomsky
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: December 7, 1928
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Noam Chomsky is an American philosopher, linguist, political commentator, cognitive scientist, logician, activist, advocate, and public intellectual. He is known for his work in linguistics, politics, and social criticism. Noam wrote the anti-war essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals.” He was involved in the linguistics wars, having written the book Syntactic Structures ; he created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program, and has been called “the father of modern linguistics.” He also co-wrote the book Manufacturing Consent .
Noam is the son of Elsie (Simonofsky), a teacher, and William Chomsky (born Ze’ev Chomsky), a scholar of the Hebrew language. His father was a Jewish emigrant, from Kupil, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire, now Ukraine. His mother was a Jewish emigrant, from Babruysk, Belarus. Noam is married to Valeria Wasserman. He was previously married to linguist and education specialist Carol Chomsky (born Carol Doris Schatz), until her death. Noam and Carol have three children.
Noam’s paternal grandfather was Meyer Chomsky (the son of Isaac Chomsky and Gertrude Feldman).
Noam’s paternal grandmother was named Essie.
Noam’s maternal grandfather was named Elimelech Max Simonofsky.
Noam’s maternal grandmother was named Fanny.
Sources: Genealogy of Noam Chomsky – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Noam Chomsky (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com