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Brief Lives

Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

Martin Jenkins traces the life of a self-made woman.

Most philosophies are named after their founders following the founder’s death – for example, Platonism. Sometimes the name emerges from a consensus of its practitioners – for example, Existentialism. It takes a bigger than average ego to consciously create a philosophy and give it a name of one’s own choosing. In For the New Intellectual (1961), Ayn Rand wrote, “The name I have chosen for my philosophy is Objectivism.”

Ayn Rand by Gail Campbell 2019

Russia & America

Ayn Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum in Saint Petersburg in 1905.

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