Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 2, 1905.  Growing up, Rand took a keen interest in reading, writing and philosophy.  In 1917, Rand lived through the Bolshevik Revolution, which she adamantly opposed on moral and political grounds.  As a teenager she completed high school and enrolled in college.  She graduated from the University of Leningrad in 1924, having majored in history.  In 1926, Ayn Rand escaped Russia, believing that only the United States would offer her the freedom to write and speak her mind.  She and Frank O'Connor married in 1929, having met in Hollywood.  She wrote Anthem in 1937, and it was published in England the following year.  Expounding on her themes in Anthem, she published The Fountainhead in the late 40's and her greatest work, Atlas Shrugged, in the 50's.  The rest of her life was spent writing non-fiction works and giving speeches to support her philosophy of objectivism.  Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982.