Noam Chomsky’s wife debunks ‘false’ reports of famed linguist’s death

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

Noam Chomsky is in hospital in Brazil while recovering from a stroke he suffered a year ago (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Noam Chomsky's wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, has debunked reports Tuesday that the famed linguist has died.

“No, it is false,” she wrote Tuesday in response to an emailed query from The Associated Press. “He is well,” she added to ABC.

Chomsky, 95, has been hospitalized in Brazil while recovering from a stroke suffered a year ago, his wife confirmed last week.

Earlier on 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.

Valeria told the Associated Press via email last week, that the MIT professor is currently in a Sao Paulo hospital. The couple traveled on an ambulance jet with two nurses once he was well enough to leave the United States.

Valeria confirmed reports in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo, that her husband had difficulty speaking and that the right side of his body is affected. She said that a neurologist, speech therapist and lung specialist visit the academic on a daily basis.

Noam Chomsky is ‘well’, according to his wife (AP)

Chomsky, who has been vocal about his support for the Palestinian cause and what he has called the “crimes” of the Israeli state, had been notably absent from demonstrations and discussions on the issue over the last year.

The famed intellectual is still following the news and his wife confirmed that he raises his left arm in a gesture of lament and anger when he sees images of the war in Gaza.

Valeria, who married the professor in 2014, also told Folha de S Paulo that she is thinking about moving to an apartment near the beach in Rio de Janeiro after reading that living in a sunny place can help stroke patients.

It comes after a post shared by Media Lens last week, revealed that the MIT professor is unlikely to ever return to the public eye following the deterioration of his health.

The Chomskys have had a residence in Brazil since 2015. Chomsky, known to millions for his criticisms of US foreign policy, taught for decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2017, he joined the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press