Aaron Hillel Swartz

 (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. He was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS,[3] the Markdown publishing format,[4] the organization Creative Commons,[5] and the website framework web.py,[6] and joined the social news site Reddit six months after its founding.[7] He was given the title of co-founder of Reddit by Y Combinator owner Paul Graham after the formation of Not a Bug, Inc. (a merger of Swartz's project Infogami and Redbrick Solutions,[8] a company run by Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman). Swartz's work also focused on civic awareness and activism.[9][10] He helped launch the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in 2009 to learn more about effective online activism. In 2010, he became a research fellow at Harvard University's Safra Research Lab on Institutional Corruption, directed by Lawrence Lessig.[11][12] He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Aaron Swartz



Swartz at a Creative Commons event (December 13, 2008)

Born

Aaron Hillel Swartz[1]

November 8, 1986

Highland Park, Illinois,[2] U.S.

DiedJanuary 11, 2013 (aged 26)

Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.

Cause of deathSuicideEducationStanford UniversityOccupationSoftware developer, writer, internet activistOrganizationCreative Commons (development), Reddit (co-founder), Watchdog.net, Open Library, DeadDrop, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Demand Progress (co-founder), ThoughtWorks, Tor2webTitleFellow, Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for EthicsAwardsArsDigita Prize (2000)

American Library Association's James Madison Award (posthumously)

EFF Pioneer Award 2013 (posthumously)

Internet Hall of Fame 2013 (posthumously)Websiteaaronsw.com