# Aaron Swartz

> He built pieces of the early web - RSS, Markdown, Reddit - then turned that skill toward opening access to information the law said should stay locked. The prosecution that followed ended with his death at 26.

*American computer programmer and internet-political activist (1986-2013)*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/aaron-swartz

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Developer ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5482740))
- **Category:** Developers
- **Country:** United States
- **Born:** 1986-11-08
- **Died:** 2013-01-11
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** male

## Bio

Aaron Swartz was writing code that mattered by his teens: RSS at 14, the architecture behind Creative Commons, the markup language Markdown, the Python framework web.py. He co-owned Reddit and watched it sell to Condé Nast in 2006, left a year later, and pivoted hard toward activism - launching the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in 2009, founding Demand Progress to fight censorship bills, taking a research post at Harvard's Safra Lab. In January 2011, MIT police arrested him for downloading academic journal articles from JSTOR through a guest account and an unlocked closet; federal prosecutors stacked eleven counts of computer fraud and wire fraud, a possible 35 years and a million-dollar fine. He refused a plea deal that required pleading guilty to felonies. Two days after prosecutors rejected his counter-offer, he was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment. He was 26.

## Fame
- **Fame score:** 72.2
- **Momentum:** 17.8
- **Total followers across platforms:** 2,457

## Platforms
- **X**: https://x.com/aaronsw (@aaronsw)
- **IMDB**: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2290901/ (@nm2290901)
- **WEBSITE**: http://www.aaronsw.com
- **GITHUB**: https://github.com/aaronsw (@aaronsw, 2,457 followers)

## Timeline
- **2013** - EFF Award
- **2013** - Internet Hall of Fame
- **2013** - James Madison Award
- **2013** - Died
- **1986** - Born

## Sources
- [Aaron Swartz](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Шварц, Аарон](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%86%2C_%D0%90%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD)
- [アーロン・スワーツ](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%83%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84)
- [亚伦·斯沃茨](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%9A%E4%BC%A6%C2%B7%E6%96%AF%E6%B2%83%E8%8C%A8)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Άαρον Σουόρτς](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%86%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BD_%CE%A3%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%8C%CF%81%CF%84%CF%82)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [آرون سوارتس](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [એરન સ્વાર્ટઝ](https://gu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AA%8F%E0%AA%B0%E0%AA%A8_%E0%AA%B8%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%B5%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%B0%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%9F%E0%AA%9D)
- [Aaron Swartz](https://haw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [ארון שוורץ](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A5)
- [एरॉन श्वार्ट्ज](https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8F%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%A8_%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9C)
- [Wikiquote](https://bn.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%A6%85%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%9C)
- [Wikiquote](https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
- [Wikiquote](https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)

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