Accuracy Project

Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born American author of I, Robot, Nightfall, The Last Question, The Bicentennial Man, The Ugly Little Boy, and the Foundation trilogy.

Date and place of birth: January 2, 1920, Petrovichi, Russia

Date, place and cause of death: April 6, 1992, New York University Hospital, New York City, New York (Heart and kidney failure/AIDS)

Marriage #1
Spouse: Gertrude Blugerman (m. July 26, 1942 - November 16, 1973) (divorced)
Wedding took place in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Marriage #2
Spouse: Janet Opal Jeppson (m. November 30, 1973 - April 6, 1992) (his death)
Wedding took place in New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Children
Son: David Asimov (b. August 20, 1951*)
Daughter: Robyn Joan Asimov (b. February 19, 1955*)

Parents
Father: Judah Asimov (b. December 21, 1896, Petrovichi, Russia - d. August 4, 1969)
Mother: Anna Rachel (Berman) Asimov (b. 1895 - d. August 5, 1973)

Remains: Cremated and his ashes were scattered

* Some sources erroneously report Asimov's son David was born in "1955" and his daughter Robyn Joan in "1959." The above birth information on his children was specifically addressed by Asimov himself in his autobiographies.

Be aware, Asimov's date of birth was changed by his mother to "September 7, 1919" in order to get him into school a year earlier. When Isaac discovered this, he insisted the official records be changed back to January 2nd, 1920, the birthday he personally celebrated throughout his life.

Isaac Asimov was just three years old when his Russian parents emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 23rd, 1923, and settling in New York. At the age of 18, Asimov sold his first story, Marooned Off Vesta, to the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. The prolific multi-award-winning writer would go on to author nearly 500 books in every single category of the Dewey Decimal System, except philosophy. Writing 10 or more books a year was not unusual for Dr. Asimov, even after his heart attack in 1977, and triple bypass surgery in 1983. Isaac admitted to being a compulsive writer, routinely working from 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., seven days a week.

Over the years he produced a broad array of works covering suspense, poetry, physics, humor, limericks, science, history, guides to the Bible, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, and even children's books. Regardless of his varied output, he remained best-known for his science fiction and was instrumental in helping to elevate the genre from sophomoric pulp-magazine fodder, to a more intellectual level that dealt with genuine issues of sociology, history, and science. Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (later Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine) was created in 1977 and went on to great success. He contributed an editorial to each issue and answered letters as well, while leaving the editorial work to others.

He worked as a civilian chemist at the U.S. Navy Air Experimental Station in Philadelphia (1942-45), was an instructor (1949-51) at Boston University School of Medicine, assistant professor (1951-55), associate professor (1955-79), and finally, professor of biochemistry, beginning in 1979, despite having left the university in 1958 and only occasionally returning to lecture. He was also President of the American Humanist Association (1985-92), and even coined the term robotics.

Isaac Asimov contracted AIDS from a transfusion of tainted blood during his 1983 triple-bypass operation. This fact was kept secret for many years until revealed by his widow, and confirmed by other close family members.