FACT CHECK: Did Noam Chomsky Really Die?

Rumors swirled on social media on Tuesday claiming intellectual and linguist Noam Chomsky died.

The wife of Noam Chomsky has addressed those rumors and, in a statement, shared the rumors of Noam’s death are “false.”

The rumors began as Noam Chomsky was admitted to a hospital in Sao Paolo after suffering a stroke.

Chomsky has since been released from the hospital, and the 95-year-old is receiving treatment at his home.

Noam Chomsky is not dead! pic.twitter.com/lWJDLFWzOo

— tráp — e/acc 🏴‍☠️ (@trapsticles) June 18, 2024

Noam Chomsky is not dead https://t.co/09f6Tc966v

— Ashwin Verghese (@punditashwin) June 18, 2024

American intellectual, linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky was discharged from a hospital in Sao Paolo Tuesday, the facility said, and would continue an undisclosed treatment at home.

The report came as the 95-year-old’s wife, Valeria Wasserman, dismissed media reports that Chomsky had died, saying in an email to AFP: “It’s false. He is well.”

The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported that Chomsky was recently taken to a hospital in the city after a stroke a year ago left him with difficulty to speak and move the right side of his body.

The couple have a home in Sao Paulo.

Chomsky first became known in the 1950s with the revolutionary theory that the ability to form structured language was innate.

He became an outspoken activist on an array of issues from US intervention in Vietnam to labor rights and the environment.

Famous linguist, Noam Chomsky, not dead, says wife https://t.co/yU0SWWKqy5

— NewsNow Nigeria (@NewsNowNigeria) June 19, 2024

Per The Associated Press:

Noam Chomsky’s wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, says reports Tuesday that the famed linguist and activist had died are untrue.

“No, it is false,” she wrote Tuesday in response to an emailed query from The Associated Press. Noam Chomsky, 95, had been hospitalized in Brazil while recovering from a stroke suffered a year ago, Valeria Chomsky told the AP last week. But the Beneficencia Portuguesa hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement that Chomsky was discharged on Tuesday to continue his treatment at home.

Earlier Tuesday, Chomsky was trending on X as false reports of his death abounded. Jacobin and The New Statesman published obituaries for Chomsky, though the former changed its headline from “We Remember Noam Chomsky” to “Let’s Celebrate Noam Chomsky.” The New Statesman took its essay by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis down altogether. Brazilian news site Diario do Centro do Mundo also took down its story announcing Chomsky’s death and issued a correction.