section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Jeffrey Epstein was born on January 20, 1953, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His parents Pauline "Paula" Stolofsky (1918–2004) and Seymour George Epstein (1916–1991) were Jewish and had married in 1952 shortly before his birth. Pauline worked as a school aide and was a homemaker. "Paula was a wonderful mother and homemaker, despite the fact that she had a full-time job", according to a former childhood friend of Epstein's. Seymour worked for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as a groundskeeper and gardener. Jeffrey was the older of two siblings; he and his brother Mark grew up in the working-class neighborhood of Sea Gate, a private gated community in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Epstein was referred to as "Bear" by his parents while Mark was known as "Puggie". Neighbors described the Epstein family as being, "so gentle, the most gentle people".
  
  Epstein attended local public schools, first attending Public School 188, and then Mark Twain Junior High School nearby and usually earned money by tutoring classmates. Acquaintances considered Epstein "sweet and generous", although "quiet and nerdy", and nicknamed him "Eppy". "He was just an average boy, very smart in math, slightly overweight, freckles, always smiling", a female friend later said.
  
  In 1967, Epstein attended the National Music Camp at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He began playing the piano when he was five, and was regarded as a talented musician by friends. He graduated in 1969 from Lafayette High School at age 16, having skipped two grades. Later that year, he attended advanced math classes at Cooper Union until he changed colleges in 1971. From September 1971, he attended the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University studying mathematical physiology, but left without receiving a degree in June 1974.
  
  Jeffrey Epstein was born on January 20, 1953, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His parents Pauline "Paula" Stolofsky (1918–2004) and Seymour George Epstein (1916–1991) were Jewish and had married in 1952 shortly before his birth. Pauline worked as a school aide and was a homemaker. "Paula was a wonderful mother and homemaker, despite the fact that she had a full-time job", according to a former childhood friend of Epstein's. Seymour worked for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as a groundskeeper and gardener. Jeffrey was the older of two siblings; he and his brother Mark grew up in the working-class neighborhood of Sea Gate, a private gated community in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Epstein was referred to as "Bear" by his parents while Mark was known as "Puggie". Neighbors described the Epstein family as being, "so gentle, the most gentle people".
  
  Epstein attended local public schools, first attending Public School 188, and then Mark Twain Junior High School nearby and usually earned money by tutoring classmates. Acquaintances considered Epstein "sweet and generous", although "quiet and nerdy", and nicknamed him "Eppy". "He was just an average boy, very smart in math, slightly overweight, freckles, always smiling", a female friend later said.
  
  In 1967, Epstein attended the National Music Camp at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He began playing the piano when he was five, and was regarded as a talented musician by friends. He graduated in 1969 from Lafayette High School at age 16, having skipped two grades. Later that year, he attended advanced math classes at Cooper Union until he changed colleges in 1971. From September 1971, he attended the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University studying mathematical physiology, but left without receiving a degree in June 1974.