Encyclopedia

Rand, Ayn

Rand, Ayn (īn) [key], 1905–82, American writer, b. St. Petersburg, Russia. She came to the United States in 1926 and worked for many years as a screenwriter. Her novels are romantic and dramatic, and they espouse a philosophy of rational self-interest that opposes the collective of the modern welfare state. Her best-known novels include The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). In For the New Intellectual (1961) she summarized her philosophy, which she called “objectivism.”

See the memoir by N. Branden (1989); biography by B. Branden (1987); study by J. T. Baker (1987); her letters, ed. by M. S. Berliner (1995), and her journals, ed. by D. Harriman (1997).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on Ayn Rand from Fact Monster:

  • Ayn Rand - Biography of Ayn Rand, Author of The Fountainhead and leader of Objectivism movement
  • Women Who Left Their Stamps on History - Women Who Left Their “Stamps” on History Each of the following women have made a ...
  • Women Who Left Their Stamps on History - Susan B. Anthony Dollar Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) is the first woman to appear on U.S. coinage. ...
  • Helen Mirren - Biography of Helen Mirren, Oscar-winning star of the 2006 movie The Queen
  • Alan Greenspan - Biography of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, 1987-2006

See more Encyclopedia articles on: American Literature: Biographies