Name at birth: Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum

Born and educated in Russia, Ayn Rand moved to the United States in 1926, moving to Hollywood to begin a career as a screenwriter. In 1932 she sold her first screenplay, but soon turned to writing novels. Her novel The Fountainhead was published in 1943 and eventually became a bestseller. Still occasionally working as a screenwriter, Rand moved to New York City in 1951 and published Atlas Shrugged in 1957. Her novels espoused what came to be called Objectivism, a philosophy that champions capitalism and the preeminence of the individual.