Noam Chomsky, a 95-year-old American linguist and philosopher, left the hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he had been hospitalized after the stroke that struck him a year agoto continue treatment at home. “The Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo communicates that the patient Avram Noam Chomsky was discharged from hospital on Tuesday for continue treatment at home“, we read in the official bulletin, which clarifies the health conditions of one of the greatest contemporary linguists, revolutionary innovator of linguistics in the second half of the twentieth century, founder of generative-transformational grammar, and one of the main intellectuals of the American New Left.
The medical report is signed by the executive director of the center and a cardiologist and comes in the aftermath of rumors, reported by the Brazilian media, about his alleged disappearance.
Noam Chomsky’s illness
Noam Chomsky, born on 7 December 1928 in Philadelphia, to a Jewish family originally from Eastern Europe, is in Brazil because it is the country of origin of his wife, the linguist Valeria Wasseran, whom he married in 2014. His first marriage he had been married to the linguist Carol Doris from 1949 to 2008, the year of his death. Just a few days ago, the Brazilian newspaper “Folha de S. Paulo” reported that the influential intellectual had been admitted to a medical center in Sao Paulo, where the couple owns a house.
The official medical report came after hours of confusion in which some Brazilian media reported the news of Chomsky’s death. The alleged news spread quickly, becoming a trend on the X network. His wife denied that Chomsky was dead in response to questions from several people, including Canadian essayist Steven Pinker. “The news about the death of Noam Chomsky (which appeared in ‘Jacobin’ and ‘New Statesman’, now cancelled, the famous linguist’s reference periodicals) were greatly exaggerated. I had confirmation from Valeria, his wife, that he is alive and well“, wrote the cognitive psychologist in
Chomksy, harsh critic of his country’s foreign policy, he suffered a stroke a year ago in the United States, where he lived with his wife. Until then, despite his advanced age, he was still active in academic and political circles. But the stroke left him bedridden, with serious communication difficulties. In the following months, Chomsky was transferred to Brazil at the behest of Wasserman, who chartered a private plane for the transfer, accompanied by two nurses. According to reports in the Brazilian press last week, Wasserman decided on the transfer after concluding that US doctors had provided Chomsky with the necessary care.