Ayn Rand
about the author of "Anthem" and other literary pieces.
Event Information
Birth
Daughter of Anna Borisovna Kaplan,mother, and Zinovy Zacharovich Rosenbaum, father.
When?
Thursday, Feb 2, 1905, 12:00 AM
Where?
Russia, Saint Petersburg, St Petersburg
Early Life
- Born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum
- She was the eldest of the three daughters
- Largely non-observant Jews.
- Taught herself to read at six.
- Rand found school unchallenging, and said she began writing screenplays at the age of eight and novels at the age of ten.
Schooling
- The prestigious Stoiunina Gymnasium
- Yevpatoria High School #4
- Leningrad State University
- State Technicum for Screen Arts (October 15)
- Petrograd State University, at the age of only 16.
- She received an honorary doctorate from Lewis &Clark College in 1963.
Major Life Events
- 1905- Born
- 1912- Family moves to an apartment on Nevsky Prospekt at Znamenskaya Square
- 1917- Witnesses first shots of February revolution
- 1925- “Pola Negri” pamphlet published
- 1926- “Hollywood: American Movie City” pamphlet published
- 1927- Hired by DeMille as junior screen writer
- 1931- Becomes U.S. citizen
- 1932- Sells “Red Pawn” to Universal Pictures
- 1951- Moves to New York City
- 1958- Begins teaching fiction writing class
- 1960- Delivers first major campus talk at Yale University.
- 1967- Makes first appearance on the Tonight Show
- 1976- Publishes last article in The Ayn Rand Letter and Attends White House dinner honoring Malcolm Fraser
- 1982- Writes her last page of “Atlas Shrugged” teleplay.
- 1982- Dies
Philosophy
Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
Ayn Rand's Reputation
Due to its controversial subjects, some people hate Ayn Rand's work and some people love it. Her ideas are very powerful and are sometimes misconstrued. In most her books poor people, minorities, and just the overall suppressed are portrayed as bad guys and the rich elite are portrayed as the good guys. She writes as though the rich elite are never wrong and deserve everything they get and the poor and minorities are trash don't deserve a thing. Her ideals were based off the concept of selflessness. Her philosophy was law to her and there was no room for opposition or doubt. I haven't read any of the books yet but, from what I hear, I don't think I'll like her books.
Example of hating Ayn Rand's work: http://www.ginandtacos.com/2009/03/10/seriously-fuck-ayn-rand/
Example of loving Ayn Rand's work: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/02/3-crucial-lessons-ayn-rand-can-teach-us-today/
Objectivism: Ayn Rand's Philosophy for Living on Earth
Event Information
Death
When?
Saturday, Mar 6, 1982, 12:00 AM
Where?