Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928, and is known as an American intellectual, philosopher, linguist, political activist, and social critic. Often referred to as the father of modern linguistics, he also holds a prominent place in analytic philosophy and helped establish cognitive science as a field. He currently holds the title of laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and is an institute professor emeritus at MIT. One of the most frequently cited living authors, Chomsky has authored over 150 books covering linguistics, war, and politics. Since the 1960s, beyond his linguistic work, he has been a significant voice on the American Left, consistently criticizing U.S. foreign policy, modern capitalism, and corporatocracy.

Chomsky was born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia. His father, William, fled the Russian Empire (now part of Ukraine) in 1913 to avoid conscription, working in Baltimore sweatshops and Hebrew schools before attending college. His mother, Elsie Simonofsky, emigrated from what is now Belarus. Both parents spoke Yiddish as their first language, though it was not spoken at home; William spoke English with a foreign accent, while Elsie used a native New York City dialect. William became principal of the Congregation Mikveh Israel religious school and joined the Gratz College faculty, emphasizing education that fostered independent thinking and a concern for improving the world—a mission his son later adopted. Elsie, also a teacher at Mikveh Israel, shared her leftist politics and social concerns with her sons. Chomsky’s only sibling, David Eli Chomsky (1934–2021), became a cardiologist in Philadelphia. The brothers were close, though Noam was more competitive. Raised Jewish, they learned Hebrew and discussed political theories of Zionism, influenced by the Left Zionist writings of Ahad Ha’am. They faced antisemitism from Philadelphia’s Irish and German communities. Chomsky attended the Deweyite Oak Lane Country Day School and Philadelphia’s Central High School, where he excelled academically but disliked the school’s rigid teaching methods. He also attended Hebrew High School at Gratz College. His parents were “normal Roosevelt Democrats” with center-left politics, but relatives in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union exposed him to socialism and far-left ideas. He was heavily influenced by his uncle and the Jewish leftists who debated current affairs at his New York City newspaper stand, and he often visited left-wing and anarchist bookstores there.

Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from those bookstores. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and during postgraduate work at the Harvard Society of Fellows, he developed the theory of transformational grammar, earning his doctorate in 1955. That year, he began teaching at MIT. In 1957, his landmark work *Syntactic Structures* made him a significant figure in linguistics, reshaping the study of language. From 1958 to 1959, he was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created universal grammar theory, generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. He also played a key role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, particularly criticizing the work of B. F. Skinner.

An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he viewed as American imperialism, Chomsky gained national attention in 1967 for his anti-war essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals.” He became associated with the New Left, was arrested multiple times for activism, and was placed on President Richard Nixon’s list of political opponents. As his linguistic work gained prominence in the 1960s, it sparked the linguistics wars. With Edward S. Herman, he later developed the propaganda model of media criticism in *Manufacturing Consent* and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional free speech, including for Holocaust denial, caused significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. His commentary on the Cambodian and Bosnian genocides also drew controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued political activism, opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, he considers Israel’s treatment of Palestinians worse than South African apartheid and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.

Chomsky is widely credited with helping spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing a new cognitivistic framework for studying language and the mind. He remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, modern capitalism, U.S. involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. His ideas continue to hold strong influence in anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements.