Johnson was born in [[New York City]]. He no longer claims U.S. citizenship because he chose to renounce it following trouble entering the U.S. on his British passport.<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681132/posts</ref> However, he did not clarify whether he had ever formally renounced his U.S. citizenship before a U.S. consular officer and it is uncertain whether he remains a citizen under U.S. law.
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Johnson was born in [[New York City]]. He no longer claims U.S. citizenship because he chose to renounce it following trouble entering the U.S. on his British passport.<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681132/posts</ref> However, he did not clarify whether he had ever formally renounced his U.S. citizenship before a U.S. consular officer and it is uncertain whether he remains a citizen under U.S. law. His mother was a successful artist, while his father was an author and politician. He is patrilineally descended from Ali Kemal, the Ottoman politician who was murdered. He is also the great-grandson of Elias Avery Lowe, the Russian-American Paelaeographer.