Ayn Rand
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Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-born American writer, screenwriter, playwright and philosopher who published several popular books in the United States in the mid-1900s, such as We the Living, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Her husband was an American actor and artist Frank O'Connor.
Rand invented a way of thinking that she called Objectivism. She was against Communism, Socialism, and Collectivism, which are political systems where the government of a country takes charge of distribution of that country's goods and products.
She also thought that countries should have very small governments. Ayn Rand did not think that welfare payments to poor people were a good thing because it involves taking money away from others.
She was also against religion and was an atheist (did not think that there is a God). All the same, she spoke about the "souls" of people, and believed the universe would act in favor of someone with good morals.
Rand left Russia to visit relatives in Chicago in the United States, when she was 21 years old. She did not want to return to live under Communism, and stayed in the US. She moved to California to become a movie writer. Movies at the time did not have sound, and stories were pantomimed on camera. Dialogue was not important, so Rand could write simple stories while she improved her English language skills.
Rand met her husband, Frank O'Connor, on a movie set, when they both appeared as extras. When O'Connor married Rand, she could live permanently in America. She later became an American citizen. He gave up his acting career, to work full-time so Rand could write full-time. Later he retired, when Rand's work made a good income. He began painting late in his life.
Rand's first novel was We the Living. It is about life in Russia during the Russian Revolution. Her second novel was Anthem, which is a science fiction book about a man named Equality 7-2521 who lives in the future. Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where everybody is given their name by the government and nobody can use the words "I" or "me". He escapes from this government to live freely with a house in a hidden place.
Her stage play Woman on Trial (better known as Night of January 16th) used audience members as a jury, to decide the play's outcome (by voting the lead character guilty or not guilty) each time it was performed. Some celebrities, like Helen Keller, appeared as jury members.
Her third novel was The Fountainhead. The Fountainhead became a best seller and was made into a movie. It is about an architect, who wants to have control over his building designs, and does not like when he has to compromise his building designs.
Her fourth novel was Atlas Shrugged. It is her longest book. It was also a best seller. It tells a story about a worldwide economic crisis, caused by the best minds in business, industry, and science quitting their jobs and disappearing, to protest government regulations that impede their work. The more governments intervene, the worse conditions become, until society collapses. A new future begins when the people who disappeared return, and governments adopt laissez-faire principles, that do not try to regulate how businesses work, or misuse innovations.
After Atlas Shrugged she wrote non-fiction books about her Objectivist ideas. She died in 1982.
