Ayn Rand [1905-1982] Page on Working Minds

Ayn Rand was born 2 February 1905 in St. Petersburg [Leningrad], Russia, nee Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum. She came to America in 1925, working in Hollywood for Cecil B. DeMille and others. She met and married Frank O'Connor on 15 April 1929, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1931.
She and Frank moved to New York City, after which her first major work, the play now known as "The Night of January 16th", was produced in Los Angeles & on Broadway (1934-35); her first published novel was "We The Living" in 1936. The novel "Anthem" was published in 1938; her stage play "The Unconquered" had a short Broadway run in 1940; and her novel "The Fountainhead" was published in 1943. She and Frank then returned to California, partly due to her involvement in the filming of "The Fountainhead", which was released by Warner Bros. in 1949.

        Before she and Frank moved back to New York City in October, 1951, she met future associates Nathaniel & Barbara Branden and Leonard Peikoff. Her most famous work and final novel "Atlas Shrugged" was published in 1957. Thereafter, she wrote non-fiction and worked in a range of media: lectures, radio shows, The Objectivist Newsletter, magazine articles, a column in the Los Angeles Times, and personal appearances on "The Tonight Show", "Today", and other television programs.
        A major break with the Brandens occurred in 1968, resulting in their public 'repudiation' and the disbandment of the Nathaniel Branden Institute. Leonard Peikoff was designated Ayn Rand's sole legal heir, and is now her self-appointed intellectual heir. The Objectivist ceased publication in September 1971, succeeded by the bi-weekly Ayn Rand Letter the month after.
        A diagnosis of lung cancer in 1974 caused her to curtail her activities, with Leonard Peikoff gradually taking over the reins; the Ayn Rand Letter was discontinued in 1976. Frank O'Connor died in November 1979, a heart-wrenching event from which Ayn Rand never quite recovered.

"The Objectivist Forum" began publication in February 1980 (it continued after her death, until 1987), and the "Ayn Rand Library" book series was begun. Ayn Rand died of heart failure in New York City on 6 March 1982, and was buried at Valhalla, NY.

Many non-fiction compilation books and the six books of the "Ayn Rand Library" were completed and published posthumously. Many books by others about Ayn Rand – both for and against her theories – are still being written and published successfully, and her own works sell 300,000 copies each year. The Ayn Rand Institute continues to spread her ideas and ideals, while the expulsion of several staff members in 1990 resulted in the competing Institute for Objectivist Studies, retitled recently as The Objectivist Center.

A seeming renaissance in Ayn Rand's popularity began in the 1990's, with two U.S. postage stamps in her honor [at top of this page], the 1998 documentary feature film, "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life" was nominated for an Oscar, and inclusion of both "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" in the top ten of many lists of 'Best (or Most Important) Novels of the XXth Century'. A restoration of the Italian "We The Living" was re-released in December 2003.
The on-again, off-again television mini-series of "Atlas Shrugged" is again listed on IMDb, with Angelina Jolie signed to portray Dagny Taggart; the LionsGate Films production is scheduled for broadcast in 2008.

I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows. This – the supremacy of reason – was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism.
— Ayn Rand (in "The Objectivist" of September 1971)

Who Is John Galt?

Mini-version of John Galt's Speech

‘ Francisco's 'Money' Speech from "Atlas Shrugged" ‘

Ayn Rand Quotes Page

Ayn Rand's credits at Internet Movie Database
Ayn Rand's credits at Internet Broadway Database

The Atlasphere: Connecting admirers of The Fountainhead & Atlas Shrugged
'Atlas Shrugged' Celebration Day on September 2nd in Ouray, Colorado
Thomas Gramstad's Post-Objectivism Site
Matthew Stoloff's Objectivism Reference Center
AR Quote Generator
'Who is John Galt' store
Ellen's very pictorial Ayn Rand fansite
Objectivist Bar & Grill [msg board +]
Quent Cordair Fine Art Gallery [art by Objectivists & others]
artist Nick Gaetano [AR book covers] at Cordair Art Gallery
'The Objectivist' website
Objectivism Online website
Rebirth of Reason™ Objectivism website

Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
Ayn Rand Pages

Objectivism Research CD-ROM "The Objectivism Research CD-ROM: The Works of Ayn Rand" [2001]
by Leonard Peikoff & Ayn Rand
Oliver Computing CDROM [5/2001] for only $59.95

Purchase AR's two best-selling novels via Amazon.com
"Atlas Shrugged" [1957] "The Fountainhead" [1943]

Purchase 6-volume 'Ayn Rand Library' via Amazon.com
click here {new window}

Around The World
Ayn Rand groups at Meetup.com [130+ worldwide]
Front Range Objectivism in Colorado
Kansas Objectivists [HQ = Lawrence KS]
Hamilton College [Clinton NY] Objectivists Club
University of Southern California Objectivist Club

German-Language AR/Objectivism Site
Brasilian Ayn Rand Website [in Portuguese]
Russian Ayn Rand Website
Swedish Ayn Rand Webpage
Dutch Ayn Rand Website
Society for the Study of Ayn Rand in Japan
U.K. Objectivist Association
Ayn Rand Australia
Objectivism / Ayn Rand site in Turkish or English

ANNI Books in Russia: sells rare Ayn Rand books

The objectivist ethics holds man's life as the standard of value
– and his own life as the ethical purpose of every individual man.

The three cardinal values of the Objectivist ethics ... are:
Reason, Purpose, Self-Esteem,
with their three corresponding virtues:
Rationality, Productiveness, Pride.

Text Sites
Dr. Goldberg's AR Chronology
Mark J. Gardner's online version of 'Anthem'
O.R.C. texts of "Anthem": HTML version | plain text version
Playboy Magazine/Alvin Toffler Interview of AR [March 1964]
USA Today Sept 2002 article about CEOs' admiration for Ayn Rand
Dec 2003 essay "The Cultural Ascendancy of Ayn Rand" by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
AR essay April 1963 "Man's Rights" in French
AR essay Sept 1963 "Racism" in French