“If a life can have a ‘theme song’ — and I believe that every worthwhile one has — mine is [best] expressed in one word: Individualism.”   Ayn Rand (first name rhymes with “mine”) was born in Russia in 1905. She came to America at the age of twenty-one and published her first novel, We the Living, in 1936. The Fountainhead was published in 1943 and 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. Written by staff of the Ayn Rand Institute, this biographical sketch of Ayn Rand presents the major events of her life in highly condensed form.   Excerpted from Letters of Ayn Rand, this timeline shows the key events in Ayn Rand’s life in chronological order.   This gallery provides a sampling of photographs and memorabilia selected from the Institute’s Ayn Rand Archives.
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