Ayn Rand (1905–1982), born Alisa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was a novelist and philosopher who fled Soviet oppression to emigrate to the U.S. in 1926. Through bestselling novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), she developed Objectivism—a philosophy celebrating reason, rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism. Her ideas profoundly shaped libertarian thought despite sparking controversy. She died in New York City.
