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This article is from the Ayn Rand's Philosophy of Objectivism FAQ, by Chris Walker cwalker@aquila.ece.utexas.edu with numerous contributions by
others.
03 Who is Ayn Rand?
Ayn Rand (1905-1982) was a Russian-born American writer. She grew up in
St. Petersburg during the Russian Revolution and graduated from the
University of Petrograd in 1924. As a child at the age of nine, she had
decided that she would become a writer. Being directly exposed to the
Soviet system, she rebelled even as a child against the doctrines and
practices of that oppressive culture. In 1926, at the age of 21,
she went to the United States to become a Hollywood screen writer
and married in 1931.
She went on to write not only several screen plays but eventually
several novels including the "We the Living" (1936), the best-seller,
"The Fountainhead (1943)" and "Atlas Shrugged (1957)". Ayn Rand
considered her novels to belong to the school of art known as
Romanticism, as opposed to Naturalism. Additional works include a
novelette called "Anthem" and several plays including the intriguing
"Night of January 16th."
"'The Fountainhead', the story of an intransigent creator who refuses to
surrender his integrity or his intellectual independence to a world of
second-handers, was published in 1943--after having been rejected by twelve
publishers. It brought Ayn Rand international fame. With the publication
of 'Atlas Shrugged' in 1957, Ayn Rand's position in history -- both
as novelist and philosopher -- was established. 'Atlas Shrugged' tells
the story of what happens to the world when its most intelligent and
productive members, the men of the mind, go on strike against the creed
of self-immolation. This novel challenges at the root the altruist and
philosophical ideas of the 2000-year-old Judeo-Christian tradition."
(Ayn Rand Institute)
After writing "Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand published several newsletters
including "The Objectivist Newsletter (1962-1965)", "The Objectivist
(1966-1971)", and "The Ayn Rand Letter (1971-1976)" All of these
newsletters are still available in print.
In the last 20 years of her life, Ayn Rand published several non-fiction
works including "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966)", "Introduction to
Objectivist Epistemology (1979)", "The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)",
"For the New Intellectual (1961)", "The Romantic Manifesto (1969)",
and "The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)" In addition,
she appeared on radio and television talk shows, wrote editorials in such
newspapers as the "LA Times", spoke to enthusiastic audiences at
events sponsored by such institutions as "The Ford Hall Forum" in Boston,
and taught and helped teach courses on her philosophy and romantic
fiction.
After her death, the seminal "Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982)",
"The Early Ayn Rand", and "The Ayn Rand Column" were published by her
intellectual heir, executor, and closest associate Dr. Leonard Peikoff.
Ayn Rand is buried in a cemetery near Valhalla, New York.
There is some biographical information in the now out-of-print "Who is
Ayn Rand?" written in the early sixties. Subsequent works by the authors
Nathaniel and Barbara Branden are more dramatic and speculative in
nature and do not provide an accurate picture of Ayn Rand's later life.
A biography based upon the complete records from Ayn Rand's estate called
"Ayn Rand in Her Own Words" by Richard Ralston will soon be published.
(mid-1997)
A film called "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life" has already had limited
engagements. The focus of the film is on the positive aspects of
Ayn Rand's life. Additionally, "The Letters of Ayn Rand" provides
valuable autobiographical information on Rand's life. For a personal
testimony of the type of woman that Ayn Rand was, obtain Leonard
Peikoff's "My Thirty Years with Ayn Rand". A taped set on Ayn Rand's
early life was written and presented by Dr. Harry Binswanger.
"Ayn Rand's Journals" by David Harriman are due to be published in
1997.
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