IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
An ardent 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, having entered on a tourist visa. Rand began in Hollywood, writing anti-Soviet screenplays, but is best remembered for her fiction. The Fountainhead (1943), her first bestseller, tells the story of an architect, who must overcome the threat of collectivism to his individual creativity.
The theme of individualism continued in her final novel, Atlas Shrugged (1957), a dystopian fantasy, where productive citizens withdraw their labor and society grinds to a halt. Despite mixed 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.
Nacida en San Petersburgo, Rusia
Ardiente defensora del capitalismo crudo, Ayn Rand predicaba la doctrina filosófica del “objetivismo”, que veía en el egoísmo una virtud. Nacida Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum en la Rusia zarista, emigró a EE.UU. en 1926 luego de llegar con visa de turista. Comenzó escribiendo guiones antisoviéticos en Hollywood, pero se le recuerda por sus obras de ficción. El manantial (1943), su primer éxito, narra la historia de un arquitecto que debe luchar contra el colectivismo para salvaguardar su creatividad personal. El tema del individualismo continuó en su última novela, La rebelión de Atlas (1957), una fantasía distópica donde los ciudadanos productivos se niegan a trabajar y la sociedad se detiene. Aun con críticas mixtas, ambos libros fueron muy leídos y Rand murió siendo ya una figura de culto.
En esta foto, Rand lleva un prendedor en forma de signo de dólar, ingenioso emblema de esta devota promotora de la iniciativa privada y el libre empresarismo.
