Ayn Rand

**Alice O'Connor** (born **Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum** , .., 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name **Ayn Rand** (), was a Russian-born American writer, screenwriter, playwright and philosopher.

She published several popular books in the United States during the mid-1900s, including her two best-selling novels, _Atlas Shrugged_ and _The Fountainhead._  She also wrote _We the Living_ and _Anthem_. Her novels promoted a viewpoint of laissez-faire  capitalism as a political and social goal. It is a kind of political philosophy known in the U.S.A. as libertarian conservatism. She called this philosophy 'objectivism'.

Her husband was American actor and artist Frank O'Connor.

## Life

Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and grew up during the Russian Revolution, in the years after World War I. She left Russia to visit relatives in Chicago in the United States when she was 21 years old. She did not want to return to live under Communism, and stayed in the US. She changed her name, partly to protect her family in Russia. Rand moved to California to become a movie writer.

Movies at the time did not have sound, and stories were mimed on camera. Dialogue was not important, so Rand could write simple stories while she improved her English language skills.

Rand met Frank O'Connor on a movie set, when they both appeared as extras. When O'Connor married Rand in 1929, she could live permanently in America. She later became an American citizen. O'Connor gave up his acting career, to work full-time so Rand could write full-time. Later he retired, when Rand's work made a good income. He began painting late in his life. He died in 1979.

Rand was a longtime tobacco smoker. She had lung cancer, but she recovered from the disease after surgery. She died of cardiovascular disease in New York City on March 6, 1982.

## Books

Rand's first book was _We the Living_. It is about life in Russia during and after the Russian Revolution, and how life in the later Soviet Union destroys the dreams and hopes of its main characters, who are mostly young people.

Her second book was _Anthem_, which is a science fiction novella, a dystopian story about a man named Equality 7-2521 who lives in a future society. In that place, everybody is given their name by the government, and nobody can use the words "I" or "me". He escapes from this society with a partner, to live freely in a house in a hidden place.

Her stage play _Woman on Trial_ (better known as _Night of January 16th_) used audience members as a jury, to decide the play's outcome (by voting the lead character guilty or not guilty) each time it was performed. Some celebrities, such as Helen Keller, appeared as jury members.

Her third novel was _The Fountainhead_. It is about an architect, who wants to have control over his building designs, and does not like when he has to compromise his building designs. _The Fountainhead_ became a best-seller, and was made into a movie starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal.

Her fourth novel was _Atlas Shrugged_. It is her longest book. It was also a best-seller. It tells a story about a worldwide economic crisis. This is caused by the best minds in business, industry, and science, and after a while all thinking people, quitting their jobs and disappearing. This is a protest against government regulations that get in the way of their work or make it harder to do.

The more that governments get in the way, the worse conditions become, until society collapses. A new future begins when the people who disappeared return, and governments adopt laissez-faire principles, that do not try to control how businesses work, or misuse innovations.

After writing _Atlas Shrugged_, she wrote non-fiction books about her Objectivist ideas. She published _The Objectivist Newsletter_, which then became _The Objectivist_ magazine, with contributions by other writers. She also published _The Ayn Rand Letter_, a later newsletter about her ideas. Rand's views are typical libertarian–conservative views. Freedom of the individual, the evils of 'large' government, the economic benefits of low taxes and 'small' government, the 'open' society: these are values which run through all her work.

## Beliefs

Rand invented a philosophy that she called "Objectivism". She was against communism, socialism, and collectivism, which are political systems where a community or the government of a country takes charge of distribution of that country's goods and products.

She opposed altruism, which she viewed as a form of self-sacrifice. She favored a form of rational selfishness.

She also thought that countries should have very small governments. Rand did not think that welfare payments to poor people were a good thing, because this involves using force to take money away from others. She believed that charity (giving money away) could be a good thing if the person giving the money wanted and chose to do it, but she did not think that people should be expected or forced to give away their money.

She was against religion, and was an atheist.

## Selected bibliography

- Novels
- _We the Living_ (1936)
- _The Fountainhead_ (1943)
- _Atlas Shrugged_ (1957)
- Other fiction
- _Night of January 16th_ (1934)
- _Anthem_(novella)_ (1938)

- Non-fiction
- _For the New Intellectual_ (1961)
- _The Virtue of Selfishness_ (1964)
- _Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal_ (1966)
- _The Romantic Manifesto_ (1969)
- _The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution_ (1971)
- _Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology_ (1979)
- _Philosophy: Who Needs It_ (1982)

## Other websites

- Frequently Asked Questions on Ayn Rand
- Ayn Rand -Citizendium

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Ayn Rand
- **native name**: Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум
- **image**: Ayn Rand (1943 Talbot portrait).jpg
- **alt**: Monochrome photograph of a woman
- **caption**: Rand in 1943
- **birth name**: Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum
- **birth place**: Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
- **death place**: New York City, New York, U.S.A.
- **resting place**: Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York, U.S.A.
- **pseudonym**: Ayn Rand
- **occupation**: Writer
- **language**: English
- **alma mater**: Saint Petersburg State University#History, Petrograd State University (diploma in history, 1924)
- **period**: 1934–1982
- **subject**: Philosophy
- **signature**: Ayn Rand signature 1949.svg
- **signature alt**: Ayn Rand