Ayn Rand (1902–82) was born Alissa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her father’s business was confiscated after the 1917 Russian Revolution, instilling in her a deep suspicion of Communism and eventually any system not structured along strictly capitalist lines. After moving to America in 1926 and changing her name, Rand had a short Hollywood career as an extra and a screenwriter before turning to fiction. Her first novel, the autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936. Anthem followed in 1938, and then the bestsellers The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).
 
Rand’s fiction is a dramatic manifestation of her staunchly pro-capitalist, individualistic ideals, codified in her philosophy of Objectivism. This school of thought was further enumerated in her nonfiction books, such as The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966) and has been extremely influential in the modern American conservative movement.