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Obituary

Passing of Gobonobo, community leader advocating for women and minorities

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By Myotus, Pingnova, and SusanLesch
smiling person holding a sign which says, "Wikimedians of Minnesota User Group"
Gobonobo at Wikipedia Day 2025, with the Wikimedians of Minnesota User Group which he founded

Jason Burt (Gobonobo) died on April 28, 2026, at age 48, from injuries sustained from dooring in a bicycle-car accident. He was a student of biology at the University of Minnesota. For two decades, his Wikimedia work addressed content gaps and systemic bias, especially the marginalization of women, people of color, and non-Western topics.

Born in Morris, Minnesota and living in Minneapolis, he was a dedicated cyclist with a background in cooperatives and consensus decision-making. He made his first edit to Wikipedia in 2006 and started the Gobonobo account in 2009. He made more than 277,000 edits across the English Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. He created over a thousand articles on women artists and academics, cooperatives, and local history.

He was known for giving patient, thoughtful guidance to newer editors. An active member of WikiProject Women in Red and WikiProject Feminism, he left us a stream of biographies of women of consequence. He edited with Art+Feminism and Black Lunch Table. He had penetrating insight into Wikimedia governance. He co-founded the Wikimedians of Minnesota User Group to spread his enthusiasm for the movement and recruit people of underrepresented demographics.

Contributing to the GLAM initiative, he helped build a local community of editors and connect Wikipedia with museums, libraries, and universities in the Twin Cities. He planned and took part in edit-a-thons and workshops at the Loft Literary Center, St. Catherine University, Hamline University, and the University of Minnesota. Gobonobo is fondly remembered for his eager mentoring, and his passionate campaign for truth, cooperation, and free knowledge.

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