ASIMOV, Isaac^[1]

1920 - 1992  (72 years)

• Name	ASIMOV, Isaac
  Birth	2 Jan 1920	Petrovichi, Russian SFSR, 10 miles East of Belorussian SSR border (near Smolensk)   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Immigration	3 Feb 1923	From Petrovichi, USSR, to Ellis Island, NYC   [3]
  	https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn (Baltic’s passenger list)
  Obituary	From New York Newsday, 7 Apr 1992: Isaac Asimov Dies Sci-fi writer of 477 titles By Sidney C. Schaer STAFF WRITER Isaac Asimov, one of this century's most influential science fiction writers, whose talent allowed him to write on almost any subject that interested him, died yesterday. He was 72 and lived in Manhattan. Asimov, perhaps most famous for a series of books set in the very distant future, had been in ill health for the past year, and died at New York University of heart and kidney failure. At his own count, he had published 477 books, and according to his family had at least a half dozen in various stages of preparation including a another installment of the best-selling "'Foundation Trilogy. A prolific producer of words, Asimov once estimated that he had more than 20 million words in print, and that he had trained himself to type at 90 words a minute. In his autobiography published over a decade ago, and contained in two installments totaling 1,500 pages, he wrote that he believed his work required only one revision. "If after two typings the result proves unsatisfactory, it has always seemed to me it is better abandoned. There is less trouble and trauma involved in writing a new piece than in trying to salvage an unsatisfactory one." Asimov, who was born in Russia on Jan. 2, 1920, came to this country with his family when he was 3 vears old, and grew up in Brooklyn, where his father owned a series of candy stores. Asimov, precocious as a youngster, claimed he convinced his father that it was acceptable for him to read "pulp" magazine fiction by claiming that it really was about science, glossing over the fiction part. As a teenager he began experimenting with writing, but sought a career in the sciences. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University in 1939 and earned a master's degree in 1941 in chemistry from the same school. World War II interrupted his college career, but eventually he earned his doctorate in chemistry from Columbia. He moved to Boston where he began teaching biochemistry at Boston University Medical School, and stayed at this job for nearly a decade until his writing could support him and his family. "Isaac really changed Page the face of science fiction," said Robert Silverberg, a longtime friend who with Asimov last year converted Asimov's famous 1940s short story, "Nightfall," into a novel. "Before Isaac, most of science fiction was just pulp magazine mumbo jumbo, but he wrote with clarity and logic he used to say that he couldn't begin a story unless he knew it," Silverberg said. Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein are considered the three giants of science fiction. Their efforts shaped it and ultimately influenced a generation that converted science fiction into science fact with the evolving world of computers, miniaturization and space travel. He would always claim that the most important influence on his writing was John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction. In 1938, Asimov he hand-delivered his first short story to Campbell, who rejected it. Campbell offered him a lot of advice, and eventually they became close friends and collaborators. In recent years Asimov collaborated on a series of children's science fiction books with his second wife, Janet Jeppson, a psychiatrist he married in 1973. His first marriage, to Gertrude Blugerman, ended in divorce. He is survived by a son, David, of California, a daughter, Robyn of Manhattan, a sister, Marcia Repanes of Maspeth, Queens, and a brother, Stanley of Roslyn Heights, L.I., who recently retired as Newsday's vice president for editorial adminstration. His brother said a memorial service was planned but a date had not been chosen. The body was cremated.  [4]
  Occupation	author, biochemist   [1]
  Death	6 Apr 1992  [5, 6]
  Notes	Too much to tell. Read the books! Also: He arrived in the U.S. with his parents and younger sister, Marcia, in Feb. 1923 when he was about 3 years old. The USS Baltic departed from Liverpool and landed at Ellis Island. Although his father's written recollections say they arrived on Feb 3 and were allowed to leave the ship on Feb 7, the records from ellisisland.org, which has the original ship's manifest, say they arrived on Feb. 13, 1923. The manifest of the Baltic (arriving from Liverpool) lists the family as follows: Juda, Hana Rochel, Aisik & Manis Asimy. It says they are from Petrowitschi. https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn (Baltic’s passenger list) Arrived on Feb. 3, 1923, and, according to Judah’s written memories, it took them four days to get off the ship. They entered NY on Feb. 7, 1923. (I am writing this on Feb. 7, 2023. (!) ) Here's a bit about the ship: BALTIC 1903 The BALTIC was a 23,876 gross ton ship built in 1903 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast for the White Star Line. Her details were - length 709.2ft x beam 75.6ft, two funnels, four masts, twin screw and a speed of 17 knots. There was accommodation for 425-1st, 450-2nd and 2,000-3rd class passengers. Launched on 21st Nov.1903, she sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York on 29th Jun.1904. In 1909 she rescued survivors of the collision between the REPUBLIC and the FLORIDA off the US coast, in which the REPUBLIC sank. On 12th Dec.1918 she commenced her first voyage after the Armistice, from Liverpool to New York and in 1927 her accommodation was altered to carry 393-cabin class, 339-tourist class and 1,150-3rd class passengers. On 17th Sep.1932 she commenced her last voyage from Liverpool to New York and Liverpool and on 17th Feb.1933 sailed for Osaka, Japan where she was scrapped. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.2,p.763]
  Person ID	I29	Hugh Byrne and Nanette Asimov Lines
  Last Modified	10 Apr 2025

  
  

  Father	ASIMOV, Judah,   b. 21 Dec 1896, Petrovichi, Russia d. 4 Aug 1969, Miami Beach, Florida, USA (Age 72 years)
  Mother	BERMAN, Anna (Hana) Rachel,   b. 5 Sep 1895, Petrovichi, Russia d. 6 Aug 1973, Ila Hotel, Long Beach, NY, USA (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	Jun 1918	Petrovichi, Russia   [7]
  Notes	From Judah's recollections, written in 1969: "I was very young when I started to like to talk to her (Anna), but she used to dress up and go away with or to girl friends, giving me the impression that she doesn't care for me, until a little over 50 years ago we got married. "That was right after the Communist revolution. But regardless, we had a truly Jewish wedding, where the whole town's people Jew and Gentile came to the front of the shul where our wedding took place under the open sky." Judah's niece, Serafima Asimova, later wrote an email to her cousins in the United States dispelling a rumor in Petrovichi that Judah and Anna left for the U.S. because the Bermans and Asimovs were not happy about the marriage. (Note: Serafima refers to Anna as Hanna, and to Judah's mother as Hanna, as well) The rumor was "...that Judah and Hanna Berman there have left far away from my grandmother Hanna which did not like the wife of the son. It is a lie." She writes: "Judah - the first-born Hanna and Aaron Asimov. The grandmother of Hanna (Berman) very much liked Judah. When he began to meet about Hanna Berman, the grandmother asked the son to not hurry up. He was high and beautiful, and Hanna very small. But to a place there has come a typhus and Judah was ill the Typhus. For days and nights stayed about his bed of Hanna Berman and heart of the grandmother at a kind of such love and fidelity has trembled and she has recognized to Hanna and was glad to their marriage."
  Photos » Slide Show
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
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  Family ID	F9	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	JEPPSON, Janet Opal MD MD
  Family ID	F30	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Apr 2025

  
  

  Family 2	BLUGERMAN, Gertrude,   b. 16 May 1917, Toronto, Canada d. 17 Oct 1990, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	26 Jul 1942	New York
  Children	1. ASIMOV, David   2. ASIMOV, Robyn Joan
  Photos		Gertrude & Isaac Asimov early 1940s Gertrude & Isaac Asimov early 1940s?
  Family ID	F29	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Apr 2025

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 2 Jan 1920 - Petrovichi, Russian SFSR, 10 miles East of Belorussian SSR border (near Smolensk) Immigration - 3 Feb 1923 - From Petrovichi, USSR, to Ellis Island, NYC Marriage - 26 Jul 1942 - New York  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

  
  

• Sources

  [S259] Isaac Asimov in "In Memory Yet Green" 1979. [S166] Isaac's father, Judah "Jack" Asimov, Isaac Asimov in "In Memory Yet Green" (1979). [S50] Ship's manifest, ellisisland.org. [S1585] Isaac Asimov Dies. [S29] Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI), Ancestry.com. Biography & Genealogy Master Index [database online]. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com, Inc, 2005. Gale Research Company. Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 2005. [S1585] Isaac Asimov Dies, Isaac Asimov, one of this century's most influential science fiction writers, whose talent allowed him to write on almost any subject that interested him, died yesterday. [S74] Judah Asimov's written recollections (1969).