Ayn Rand

Early Life Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905 Father was a pharmacy owner By age 9, wanted to be a fiction writer

As a young girl, witnessed 1917 Bolshevik Revolution (which she opposed) Family moved to the Crimea to avoid the war (Ukraine) Communists seized father’s business; near starvation for the family

Education Attended University of Petrograd Studied philosophy & history Did not study literature because she did not want to focus on writers who bored her and that she despised

Emigration left USSR for America No intention of returning Moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter married actor Frank O’Connor

Writings Considered herself a European writer Red Pawn first screenplay Night of January 16th - Broadway play

We the Living - first novel –completed in 1933; finally published in 1936 –Based on her years under Soviet rule

The Fountainhead - began in 1935; published in 1943 –Rejected 12 times –Protagonist is Howard Roark, Rand’s “ideal man”

Atlas Shrugged - began in 1935; published in 1957 –An “intellectual mystery” –Most famous work

Anthem - finished in 1937; published in England in 1938, America in 1946 –Novelette about the danger of collectivism –Focuses on a society where the individual has no value

Philosophy Realized that she needed to identify the philosophic principles that created a “hero” to write well Needed to “formulate a ‘philosophy for living on earth’”

Philosophy is called “Objectivism” Focuses on the importance of the individual The Fountainhead shows this ideal hero Mike Wallace Interview

Morality of Man Morality rooted in Survival and man survives through Reason Morality is really man’s achievement of his own habits Man should only be influenced by SELF ONLY…not the church, government, or society’s institutions (marriage) Man doesn’t have to sacrifice himself to others to be moral or have self esteem Self esteem determined by himself

In Her Own Words What is Love? What is Education?

Final Notes Every book Rand published is still in print Hundreds of thousands of copies are still sold each year So far, more than 20 million copies have sold