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American Writers II: the 20th century
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May 12, 2002
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May 17, 2002
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Born: February 2, 1905 - St. Petersburg, Russia
Died: March 6, 1982 - New York, New York


After graduating from the University of Petrograd, Rand immigrated to the United States in 1926 and found work as a screenwriter in Hollywood. In 1935 her first play, The Night of January 16th, began a successful New York run. Her first novel, We, the Living, appeared in 1936, and her second, Anthem, in 1938. In 1940 her play The Unconquered
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had a short Broadway run. The Fountainhead (1943; film, 1949), which became a durable best-seller, depicts its architect-hero as a superman whose egoism and genius prevail over timid traditionalism and social conformism. The Objectivist philosophy embodied in the book, inspired by Nietzsche, held that all real achievement is the product of individual ability and effort, that laissez-faire capitalism is most congenial to the exercise of talent, and that selfishness is a virtue, altruism a vice. Rand's reversal of the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic made her a beacon for an avid and self-renewing cult of libertarian-conservative followers. The allegorical Atlas Shrugged (1957),
Works by Ayn Rand
The Night of January 16th (play, 1935)
We, the Living (1936)
Anthem (1938)
The Unconquered (play, 1940)
The Fountainhead (1943; film, 1949)
Atlas Shrugged (1957)
For the New Intellectual (1961)
The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)
another perennial best-seller, combines science fiction and a political message. Rand also wrote a number of nonfiction works expounding her beliefs, including For the New Intellectual (1961) and The Virtue of Selfishness (1964), and edited two journals propounding her ideas, The Objectivist (1962-71) and The Ayn Rand Letter (1971-76).

Web sites about Ayn Rand
About Ayn Rand
The Objectivism Reference Center
Ayn Rand Institute Archives
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life



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