Aaron H. Swartz known as AaronSw on Wikipedia Departed January 11, 2013 "I just can't believe someone so brilliant is gone so soon." /ƒETCHCOMMS/
This is an irreconcilable loss for humanity! We were fortunate to share his association, and as stewards, responsible to adopt his endeavors into our care, and conservancy. RIP(condolences)
Interested editors may display this honor by adding {{User:AaronSw/Honor}}
Latest comment: 1 year ago131 comments131 people in discussion
So long Aaron, there were so many things I'd like to have ranted to you about. I wonder if you ever read Beneath the Wheel. I'm reminded of it now. Lessig's tumblr post[1] says things better than I could. You were a true idealist and the world is a worse place without you. 67.117.146.66 (talk) 21:25, 12 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I always admired your ideas about Wikipedia and your many other contributions to other things. Rest in peace, and my condolences to your family. JYolkowski // talk03:57, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I am only a minor editor and contributor, but I regret the passing of such a brilliant mind such as I hope to live up to. Farewell, Aaron.Anon423 (talk) 04:18, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
There are some people that the world shouldn't lose, and can't replace. The work goes on, but it's a little more difficult, a little heavier. I just can't believe someone so brilliant is gone so soon. /ƒETCHCOMMS/04:45, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Aaron, without your work on RSS, Reddit and Demand Progress, a lot of what we take for granted now would not have been possible. You were a great person for your work, and also your activism and voluntary work here on WP. The world really doesn't know what it has until it loses it. You were one of those gems. Rest in peace, the world bows down to you. Osarius - Want a chat?11:14, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
The Internet has lost a friend and an ally, and the world has lost another brilliant mind. Rest in peace. May your soul find happiness. James(T • C) • 10:19pm •11:19, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
My condolences. The death of any one who pursues an improvement to the world, is an untimely death. In your achievements we will seat your memory. Farewell. Hal100 (talk) 11:21, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
We never crossed paths on the project, and it is quite unfortunate considering I have read so much good things about you in recent times. Such a talented person on the project. You are in a much better place, and will be forever missed, forever loved, and forever young. Thank you for your time and work here on the project. My sincerest condolences and thoughts go out to people who knew Aaron. — MS†AR11:23, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I'm only now starting to realize that I owe much of what I value online to your work. And to think, you were a fellow Wikipedian too! Truly gone too soon...--Danaman5 (talk) 15:01, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
My heart sank when I heard this news. The world, not only this website, has lost a great contributor. May we all learn something from this and not inflict such injustice on others like you. 216.106.40.199 (talk) 16:48, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I met Aaron at Wikimania 2006. His work in our community went far beyond his edits (though, there were those too). We will miss him a great deal, and I so wish we had known him longer. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 17:03, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Unterstützte das freie Wissen und bezahlte mit einem jungen Leben. (translation from German, Paid with his young life for supporting free knowledge) --Schlesinger (talk) 20:22, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I can't put my sadness into words. You inspired so many and sacrificed so much for the cause of free knowledge. This loss will not be in vain, the movement will continue, and you will always be remembered. CT Cooper ·talk21:34, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
My heart grieves for you Aaron, and today I feel ashamed to call myself brother counsel to those who persecuted you. ⇒SWATJesterShoot Blues, Tell VileRat!08:42, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
The first time I encountered you, Aaron, I was only 15. And today, after a very long journey, I can truly say you were one of my Wikipedian role models. Though I have never met you personally, and I know now that I never will, all I can share now are my condolences at your untimely passing. You have given more to this movement than many of us have, and for that I am eternally grateful. Somehow, I can only hope that we will continue your legacy: whatever work you left behind, we hope to complete it for you. And somehow, I hope you'll be smiling down upon us as we continue your fight. For that, and for so many other things, maraming salamat (thank you very much). --Sky Harbor(talk)10:53, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
It's a shame, you fought for freedom, for free knowledge and thought. You were killed by the system, a system imprisoned in this stupid money-hunger, ignorant and coward. Rest in peace, hero.--Nick1915 (talk) 12:22, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
That you died makes me feel unsafe and makes me fear for the safety of others in my community. Circumstances created by bad people's opposition to good things caused your death, and you died while doing good things that bad people did not want you to do. Blue Rasberry (talk)14:12, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Thank you for everything that you did - I am at a loss for the right words to express how much your premature departure saddens me. You will be missed. --Varnent (talk)(COI)19:24, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
It's a real shame Aaron was driven to this action. At least his pain is over, but I hate to see it happen this way. My condolences go out to his family; losing someone you love like this is just awful. You're in our hearts today. Peyre (talk) 21:05, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
This generation's America may need to make do without its great men and its great hopes for the future, without the Franklins and Jeffersons and Madisons we have lost; perhaps our hopes must now reside in such peaceful mediocrity as can be won through the resolve of lesser men appreciative of the realities of war. Wnt (talk) 05:15, 15 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
A very great loss for the ever-threatened cause of freedom. Hopefully your death will inspire others to take courage and continue your work. Tom Reedy (talk) 05:24, 15 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Once copyright was intended to promote progress. Now allegements of copyright infringement were instrumental in the killing of a promoter of progress. --WolfgangRieger (talk) 23:56, 15 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. DaemonDice (talk) 03:35, 16 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I never knew you on WP but I have great admiration for what you did in RL. Your principled stands, putting the needs of humanity over the twisted whims of corporate interests, will be your legacy: an inspiration to those who carry on. Rivertorch (talk) 07:11, 16 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Aaron, I might never heard about you before you were gone, but reading about your case and about your life, one cannot be silent, but wonder why such fate befell such person who always give relentlessly and didn't asking anything in return. My condolences for the family of Aaron. Hope God give them strength in this calamity. With pray and sympathy Bennylin (talk) 14:16, 16 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I am heartbroken and wish I could have given you support when you needed it. I hope that we can carry on that work you began and contribute to the goals you dreamed of. -Darouet (talk) 03:27, 17 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Rest in peace. Gerard W (NE Ent)15:23, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
Very, very sad. „With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us?“ (A.S. in 2008) --Blogotron (talk) 06:33, 20 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I haven't known him, but I feel like I have done. Like a friend, so it feels to me. Rest in Peace, Aaron. Ruhe in Frieden. My deepest condolences to his family, his partner and friends of Aaron, I feel with you. I'm so sorry. It's a big loss, for all of us. In deep sorrow, --#Reaper (talk) 22:47, 25 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
The world’s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations.--Demostene119 (talk) 18:03, 27 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
I have just learnt this big loss. And believe me I am so sorry, although I have not known you. I will always remember your beatiful face.Egeymi (talk) 23:32, 29 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
My Gosh you were so young. I didn't know you while you were alive but somehow it is still extremely heartrending that you've left this world! May you rest in everlasting peace! Mr T(Talk?)(New thread?)06:00, 22 February 2013 (UTC)Reply
Rest in Peace Mr. Swartz. We all don't know why but I know you know why. Well, in behalf, we wish here in Wikipedia for you to have a great and better journey in your new life now with other people you once lived with. Mediran (t • c) 11:31, 22 February 2013 (UTC)Reply
Unfortunate! Hope there is a Wikipedia in the heaven too where you'll be able to continuing editing! Rest in peace! My condolences to your friends and family members! In Wikipedia, we'll not forget your contribution! --Tito Dutta (contact) 23:45, 11 March 2013 (UTC)Reply
Sometimes just after passing away people realise, how many friends the deceased have had. I afraid, nobody realise, when I die. But this make me not sad... Zboralski (talk) 00:14, 23 November 2013 (UTC)Reply
I just want to say, Aaron is one of my heroes for his voluntary work to strengthen the inclusivity of the Internet and the scientific, technological and social progress that supports - work that stood against the injustice of people and laws that worked for the opposite. His loss was tragic yet he stands as a symbol of inspiration: he suffered for what he believed, and it was a worthy cause. ··gracefool💬21:26, 26 July 2017 (UTC)Reply
I miss you very much. The world misses you very much - and now with the pervasive invasion of our privacy by firms like Facebook and even your Reddit, I'm so sorry that things have not turned out the way you'd have wanted it to have. Rest in peace my dear colleague and friend. 47.20.71.190 (talk) 01:57, 29 March 2018 (UTC)Reply
Never forgotten. We will make this right, at least to the extent that such is possible. I hope no one who knew Aaron blames themselves. I am so sorry. We will never stop fighting. 23:12, 11 November 2020 (UTC)
Our Hero. It is the year 2021 and I still think of you all the time. We never did get to meet IRL, but the fight continues. I've had the pleasure of visiting your monument at the Internet Archive in SF, and have made many more friends since who fight alongside you, until the end of injustice. Thank you for your significant contributions and the fight for making this world a better place. You have changed the world.Ingochris (talk) 02:17, 21 March 2021 (UTC)Reply
Yesterday I watched "The Internet Own's Boy" and, for the first time, all the fights Aaron was fighting finally clicked for me. Thanks Aaron, your contributions to the world won't ever be forgotten. JonatasBaldin07:17, 31 August 2021 (UTC).Reply
RIP Aaron. You were a great person, and cared deeply for the world. It is a shame to see you gone. I know I am a bit late to this page, but please accept my love. ♥Th78blue (They/Them/Their • talk)♥04:55, 5 January 2022 (UTC)Reply
Even all these years later, I have Aaron on my mind. Let us do all we can to ensure that the others like him that are in jail currently or are fighting for their freedom or their lives, are not left to suffer a similar fate... —Moops⋠T⋡22:47, 31 December 2022 (UTC)Reply
10 years today. Never forgotten. 13:55, 11 January 2023 (UTC)
In an English class in community college, I made friends with someone who is good friends with your brother. That our world is so small and close-knit that someone of your magnitude who has given so much to spread information freely and openly would be so few degrees of separation from me, I think, is no small miracle. Would that I could give all that I can to contribute to the sum of human knowledge that you did. I hope you are resting in peace. PriusGod (talk) 21:28, 29 June 2023 (UTC)Reply
I was not even ten years old yet when you passed, however your legacy proves the monumental loss that humanity has endured with your death. What you contributed and what you stood for, here on Wikipedia and out in the real world, thank you. You have inspired me and quite literally millions of others. Few will read this little message I'm casting out into the web as vast as the cosmos, a decade after your passing, but I feel wrong to not pay my respects to one of the most valuable people of our current age. Thank you, Aaron. Requiescat in pace. ~EO 19:44 22 Oct 2023
Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Aaron, I strongly disagree with some of your methods, but I am also very disturbed about how prosecutorial zeal seemed to outweigh good judgment about what methods and outcomes would be appropriate in your situation. One of my favorite subjects at the moment is George Washington's Farewell Address in which he wrote, "Relying on (my Country's) kindness... and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views it in the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government..." I profoundly regret that our government seems to have treated you with such excessive harshness, and I am deeply saddened that your life ended as it did. My fellow Wikipedian, rest in peace. --Pine✉19:03, 13 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The Original Barnstar
The number of edits and contributions you have done for Wikipedia is beyond amazing! You will always be remembered by fellow Wikipedians. May God Bless you and Rest in Peace. 6033CloudyRainbowTrail (talk) 18:28, 14 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Sorry for this late notice. There will be a memorial gathering for Aaron at the Internet Archive on Thursday (i.e. tomorrow), January 24 2013, 7pm, in San Francisco. More info: http://ianews.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/memorial-for-aaron-swartz/ Please feel free to repost this.
Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Medal
I bestow you upon this medal for your outstanding contributions, both to Wikpedia and the web as a whole. It's so sad you departed us at such a young age, your vigilance is beyond all doubts. hmssolent\Let's convene11:05, 3 February 2013 (UTC)Reply