Published in 1936 after several rejections, We the Living championed the moral authority of the individual through its heroine's battles with a Soviet totalitarian state. In late 1934, Rand and her husband moved to New York City for its production, now renamed Night of January 16th.Īround this time, Rand also completed her first novel, We the Living. She soon completed a courtroom drama called Penthouse Legend, which featured the gimmick of audience members serving as the jury.

In 1932, she sold her screenplay Red Pawn, a Soviet romantic thriller, to Universal Studios. Rand landed a job as a clerk at RKO Pictures, eventually rising to head of the wardrobe department, and continued developing her craft as a writer. They married in 1929, and she became an American citizen in 1931. DeMille, Rand became an extra on the set of his 1927 film The King of Kings, where she met actor Frank O'Connor. Early Writing Careerįollowing a chance encounter with Hollywood titan Cecil B. She took on her soon-to-be-famous pen name and, after a few months in Chicago, moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. Granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago, Alissa left for the United States in early 1926, never to look back. She returned to her city of birth to attend the University of Petrograd, graduating in 1924, and then enrolled at the State Institute for Cinema Arts to study screenwriting. The situation profoundly impacted young Alissa, who developed strong feelings toward government intrusion into individual livelihood. In 1917, her father's shop was suddenly seized by Bolshevik soldiers, forcing the family to resume life in poverty in the Crimea.

The oldest daughter of Jewish parents (and eventually an avowed atheist), she spent her early years in comfort thanks to her dad's success as a pharmacist, proving a brilliant student. Early YearsĪyn Rand was born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, in St. Following the immense success of the latter, Rand promoted her philosophy of Objectivism through courses, lectures and literature. Her first novel, We the Living (1936), championed her rejection of collectivist values in favor of individual self interest, a belief that became more explicit with her subsequent novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). Ayn Rand moved to the United States in 1926 and tried to establish herself in Hollywood.

The fountainhead novel