Aaron Swartz was Jewish. Aaron Swartz was the technologist and computer programmer who helped develop code that created the RSS feed as a teenager. Aaron was born November 8, 1986 to Robert and Susan Swartz. He had two younger brothers Noah and Ben. His partner was Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, the Executive Director and Founder of Sum Of Us.
The NY TImes reported that, "At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library. Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines."
It had been reported that Swartz suffered from depression and had contemplated suicide in the past. "In a talk in 2007, Mr. Swartz described having had suicidal thoughts during a low period in his career. He also wrote about his struggle with depression, distinguishing it from sadness."
