Ayn Rand Chronology

Year	Age	Events & Works
1905		Born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum on February 2 in St. Petersburg, Russia, to Zinovy Zacharovich Rosenbaum ("Fronz") and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum. Alissa is the oldest of three sisters, Natasha and Nora.
1913	8	Begins to invent own stories and movie scenarios
1914	9	Family makes summer trip to Austria, Switzerland, and England. Reads The Mysterious Valley by Maurice Champagne and falls in love with its hero, Cyrus, who becomes prototype for her own later fictional heroes (the name Kira, heroine of her novel We The Living, is the feminine of Cyrus). Decides to become a writer.
1915	10	First efforts to write novels.
1917	12	Summer in Finland. Witnesses first shots of the Bolshevik revolution in St. Petersburg.
1918	13	Falls in love with the work of Victor Hugo; under political pressure, family abandons Petrograd for the Crimea.
1921	16	Graduates from gymnasium. The Crimea falls to the Bolsheviks, and Alissa burns her diary, which is filled with anticommunist ideas. Returns with family to Petrograd and enters the University of Petrograd, majoring in history, with a minor in philosophy.
1921/ 22	17	Studies philosophy under N. O. Losky. Initial attraction to Nietzsche’s work.
1924	19	Graduates from newly renamed University of Leningrad with highest honors. Takes job as museum guide, and enrolls in State Institute for Cinema Arts.
1925	20	Pola Negri, her biographical sketch of a silent-era actress, is published in Moscow and Leningrad. Studies English and travels to Latvia for U. S. visa.
1926	21	Leaves USSR January 26; arrives in Berlin for 21st birthday; leaves France by ship February 10, arriving in New York on February 18. Lives with Chicago relatives for six months, and adopts pen name of Ayn Rand. Writes her first short story in English, "The Husband I Bought." In September moves to Hollywood. Meets Cecil B. DeMille, who gives her job as extra in King of Kings. Meets actor Frank O’Connor on the set. Works as script reader. Her tribute, Hollywood: American City of Movies is published in Russia without her knowledge.
1927?	22	Writes short story "Good Copy."
1929	24	Marries Frank O’Connor on April 15. Works in RKO wardrobe department; plots We The Living in her spare time. Writes short stories "Escort" and "Her Second Career."
1931	26	Becomes naturalized U. S. citizen on March 13
1932	27	Becomes head of RKO wardrobe office. Screenplay Red Pawn sold to Universal, later purchased by Paramount. Finishes play, Penthouse Legend (later retitled Night of January 16th)
1933	28	Completes We The Living; sells Penthouse Legend to MGM.
1934	29	Writes novelette Ideal, later turned into a play. Penthouse Legend produced as Woman on Trial at the Hollywood Playhouse, then sold to Broadway producer. In November moves with Frank O’Connor to New York City; when Penthouse Legend production is delayed, takes work as script reader. Begins planning The Fountainhead.
1935	30	Sells We The Living to Macmillan. Night of January 16th opens for successful six-month run on Broadway.
1936	31	We The Living published in U. S. and England a month after closing of Night of January 16th.
1937	32	Writes Anthem but is unable to find a U. S. publisher. Works in office of architect Ely Jacques Kahn in order to research The Fountainhead.
1938	33	Anthem published in England. On June 26 begins writing The Fountainhead.
1939	34	Writes play Think Twice. Adapts We The Living as play, The Unconquered.
1940	35	The Unconquered produced on Broadway by George Abbott, has five-day run in February. Campaigns for Wendell Willkie and meets major conservative thinkers of the day.
1941	36	After rejection by a dozen publishers, signs contract with Bobbs-Merrill to publish The Fountainhead, not yet completed. Deadline for completed manuscript is January 1, 1943.
1942	37	Delivers completed manuscript of The Fountainhead on December 31.
1943	38	The Fountainhead published on May 6. Sells movie rights to Warner Brothers and moves back to Los Angeles area with Frank O’Connor to write screenplay adaptation. First ideas for plot of Atlas Shrugged.
1944	39	"The Only Path to Tomorrow" published in January Reader’s Digest. Becomes contract screenwriter for Hal Wallis. Writes screenplay for film Love Letters. Buys home in Chatsworth, CA designed by Richard Neutra.
1945	40	Anthem finally published for first time in the U. S. by Pamphleteers, Inc.
1946	41	Begins writing The Strike, working title of Atlas Shrugged, on September 2. "Textbook of Americanism" in Vigil.
1947	42	Testifies before House Committee on Un-American Activities about communist penetration of film industry. Writes "Screen Guide for Americans" in November Plain Talk. Visits Colorado to do research for The Strike.
1948	43	Writes final screenplay for film version of The Fountainhead; production begins.
1949	44	The Fountainhead film, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal, is released. Letter to New York Times published July 24.
1950	45	Meets fans Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and Barbara Weidman (later Barbara Branden), who become close friends and philosophical allies.
1951	46	Moves permanently back to New York City in October to work full-time on The Strike.
1957	52	Finishes Atlas Shrugged in March. Published October 10 by Random House.
1958	53	Gives private lectures on fiction writing (published posthumously as The Art of Fiction.) Helps Nathaniel Branden prepare a course, "The Basic Principles of Objectivism," for newly formed Nathaniel Branden Lectures (soon the Nathaniel Branden Institute).
1960	55	Gives first of many university talks, at Yale. "JFK – High Class Beatnik?" in Human Events (September).
1961	56	For the New Intellectual published. Who Is Ayn Rand? by the Brandens published. First annual lecture at Boston’s Ford Hall Forum.
1962	57	Begins to publish The Objectivist Newsletter with Nathaniel Branden.
1963	58	Receives honorary doctor of humane letters from Lewis and Clark College. "The Money-Making Personality" in April Cosmopolitan.
1964	59	Playboy interview in March. The Virtue of Selfishness published. "Let Us Alone!" in Yale Political Magazine, summer issue.
1966	61	The Objectivist (which replaces The Objectivist Newsletter) serializes "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology." Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal published.
1968	63	Nathaniel Branden Institute closes; Rand breaks with the Brandens, assumes sole editorship of The Objectivist. Night of January 16th published.
1970	65	The Romantic Manifesto published. "The New Left Represents an Intellectual Vacuum" in May 17 New York Times Magazine.
1971	66	The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution published. The Objectivist is replaced by The Ayn Rand Letter. "Why I Like Stamp Collecting" in Minkus Stamp Journal.
1972	67	"Do Our Tax Laws Need a Shake-Up?" in November Saturday Review of the Society.
1974	69	Lectures to West Point graduating class on "Philosophy: Who Needs It?"
1976	71	Last issue of The Ayn Rand Letter in January-February. Letter to New York Times August 11.
1977	72	Luncheon in her honor hosted by Boston’s Ford Hall Forum.
1979	74	Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology published. Frank O’Connor dies.
1981	76	Last public address, "The Sanction of the Victims," before annual conference of National Committee for Monetary Reform in New Orleans, in November.
1982	77	Begins screenplay for planned TV miniseries of Atlas Shrugged. Dies at home on March 6. Philosophy: Who Needs It? published posthumously.
1986		The Early Ayn Rand published posthumously.
1989		The Voice of Reason published posthumously.
1991		The Ayn Rand Column published posthumously.
1995		The Letters of Ayn Rand published posthumously.
1997		Journals of Ayn Rand published posthumously.
1999		Russian Writings on Hollywood published posthumously.