Ayn Rand Books

Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905-March 6, 1982)

Ayn Rand, born Alisa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the eldest of three girls in her Jewish family. They were not particularly religious. Ayn was only 12 when the Russian Revolution began. The rise of the Bolshevik party disrupted her father's flourishing pharmacy, so the family fled the country, settling in the Crimea. At the age of 16, her family returned to the newly renamed Petrograd, where life was extremely difficult. At times her family was on the verge of starvation.

New opportunities arose after the Revolution. Women could enroll in the university, so Ayn took advantage of this. She studied social pedagogy and history. She learned the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche. She discovered the literature of Hugo, Dostoevsky and Rostand. She completed her studies in 1924, having been reinstated after a purging of students. After graduation, she spent a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts. When she began to write, she adopted the name Ayn Rand.

In 1925, Ayn visited relatives in the United States. She fell in love with New York, then spent a few months in Chicago and Hollywood. She landed a part as an extra in a film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and went on to work as a junior screenwriter. She married an actor named Frank O'Connor in 1929, and she became a U. S. citizen in 1931. She was unsuccessful at bringing her family into the States.

In 1932, she sold her first screenplay to Universal Studios, though it was never made into a film. She next wrote a play, Night of January 16th, which eventually made it to Broadway. What made this play unique was that each night, the jury was selected from the audience. The actors had learned two endings, and the play would change depending on the verdict decided by the jury. A film was made of the show in 1941, though Ayn was not happy with the result.

She published her first novel in 1936. Ayn became involved in politics during the 1940s. She worked on the Presidential campaign for Republican Wendell Wilkie. She enjoyed public speaking, especially when there was controversy with the audience. She was once referred to by Ludwig von Mises as "the most courageous man in America."

In 1943, she published her first literary success, The Fountainhead. She was prescribed amphetamines while she was finishing the book, which left her exhausted. The book was made into a film by Warner Bros. After finished the screenplay for the book, she took a position as screenwriter and script doctor for Hal Wallis.

In 1951, Ayn moved to New York City. She formed a group of her fans who got together to discuss philosophy. The group included the future chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan and a young man named Nathaniel Branden, with whom she later had an affair. Her next book, Atlas Shrugged, was her most well-known book. Her dystopian novel became an international bestseller despite its length of 1000 pages.

In her later years, her conservative views were often controversial. She was known for supporting abortion rights, opposing the war in Vietnam, viewing homosexuality as immoral, yet advising that laws against it be repealed. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and went through surgery in 1974. Her husband died in 1979.

Ayn died in 1982 of heart failure.