Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 2 Children: All About Jane and James
Ruth Bader Ginsburg shared a daughter and a son with her husband, Martin D. Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, welcomed two children during her life: Jane and James “Jim” Steven.
RBG shared her children with her late husband, Martin “Marty” D. Ginsburg, who died just over a decade before his wife. The couple met during their undergraduate careers at Cornell University in 1950. By 1954, they were married and welcomed their first child the following year.
Before her death in September 2020, Ginsburg opened up about motherhood during a 2017 interview with The Atlantic. Not only did she express her admiration for her children, but she even gave them credit for her professional success.
“When I started law school my daughter Jane was 14 months, and I attribute my success in law school largely to Jane,” RBG said. “I went to class about 8:30 a.m., and I came home at 4:00 p.m., that was children’s hour. It was a total break in my day, and children’s hour continued until Jane went to sleep. Then I was happy to go back to the books, so I felt each part of my life gave me respite from the other.”
During the same interview, RBG shared that Jane gave her a “better sense” of “what life is.” Throughout her busy career, the judge's husband supported his wife and children by taking on more roles at home.
In 1972, RBG co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union's Women’s Rights Project and the father of two became their home’s chef. “Marty realized how important that work was,” she said. “In those years, Marty took over the kitchen entirely, and I was phased out of it, to the everlasting appreciation of my food-loving children.”
Here's everything to know about Ruth Bader Ginsburg's children, Jane and James.
Jane Ginsburg, 69
Jane C. Ginsburg was born to RBG and Marty on July 21, 1955, in Freeport, N.Y.
When the 2018 film On the Basis of Sex was released, Jane discussed how the movie portrayed her and her mother in an interview with the Columbia Spectator. “I was not more politically engaged than my mother,” she said.
“The movie makes me seem as if I was rebellious and politically engaged and pushed my mother to be more radical than she might have otherwise been,” Jane continued. “There was never a point where my mother had any doubt about ... not only the justice but the desirability of the course she was pursuing.”
Jane even recalled “the law” becoming a “fifth member” in their family. “I don’t remember exactly at what point, but I was certainly still in high school when I got involved reading briefs and editing briefs, so it was very much a family enterprise,” she shared with the Spectator.
Editing briefs arguably inspired Jane to follow in her parents' footsteps as she ultimately pursued a career in literary and artistic property law. Jane is currently the faculty director of Columbia University’s Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts, according to her university bio.
Before she was a professor, Jane was a student at the University of Chicago. There, she earned her bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in 1976 and 1977, respectively.
Later, she earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1980. Five years later, Jane added two more degrees from the Université de Paris II, which she attended in the ’80s and ’90s.
Jane is also a wife and mother to two children. The professor married George T. Spera Jr. in the summer of 1981, as reported by The New York Times. The couple welcomed their son, Paul Spera, in 1986, and later welcomed their daughter, Clara Spera, in 1990.
In December 2020, Clara penned an essay for Harper’s Bazaar and revealed the lessons her famous grandmother passed on to her.
“I learned from her that it was important to keep my room neat and tidy, that I shouldn’t raise my voice because it wouldn’t get me anywhere, and that I could imagine a future for myself unimpeded by stereotypes about ‘the way women are,’ ” she wrote.
James “Jim” Steven Ginsburg, 58
RBG and her husband welcomed their son, James “Jim” Steven Ginsburg, in September 1965. His mother gave birth to him in Washington, D.C., about a decade after she welcomed Jane.
The late justice's only son has spoken fondly of her over the years and even recalled how Marty felt about RBG during their courtship. Jim spoke to PEOPLE in 2018 and revealed that his late father thought his mother was “awfully cute” and “awfully smart.”
Despite Marty’s interest in RBG, she was not as quick to jump into their relationship, Jim explained. “Mom said Dad was the only boy who dated her who cared that she had a brain,” he said. “He was smitten pretty quickly. It might have taken my mother a little longer.”
Unlike his sister and parents, Jim pursued a career outside of law. He received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1987 and later attended the university’s law school before dropping out after less than two years, as reported by Newsweek.
Jim founded his classical music label, Cedille Records, in 1989. He currently serves as the label’s president, according to the company’s website.
“The idea for the label came to me as I was actually a listener, concertgoer, consumer in Chicago in the 1980s,” Jim said in a YouTube video for the label. “I would go to concerts featuring wonderful local artists and hear them on live broadcasts at our spectacular radio station W FMT then I would go to the record store and look for the recordings and there was literally none to be found.”
Jim’s work in music has earned him several accolades, including one Grammy Award along with three nominations. He was nominated for producer of the year in classical music at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
He is also a father to two children. Jim married his first wife, Lisa Brauston, in 1995, however, they eventually divorced. The musician is now married to Patrice Michaels, whom he wed in 2010.
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