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Ayn Rand
1905–1982
Born St. Petersburg, Russia
Anardent defender of unfettered capitalism, Ayn Rand preached a philosophical doctrine of "objectivism" that saw selfishness as a virtue. Born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum in Czarist Russia, she immigrated to the United States in 1926 after overstaying a tourist visa. Rand began in Hollywood, writing anti-Soviet screenplays, but is best remembered for her fiction. The Fountainhead (1943), her debut novel, tells the story of an architect, who must overcome the threat of collectivism to his individual creativity. The theme of individualism continued in her second novel, Atlas Shrugged (1957), a dystopian fantasy, where productive citizens withdraw their labor and society grinds to a halt. Despite poor reviews, both books earned a broad readership, and by the time of her death, Rand had become a cult figure.
In this photograph, the author wears a pin made in the shape of a dollar sign, a wry emblem for this celebrant of private initiative and free enterprise.
Arnold Newman (1918–2006)
Gelatin silver print, 1964 |