Ayn Rand Biography: A Treacherous Existence

W. Bohrer

English 11

Mr. Horn

12/17/13

Ayn Rand Biography: A Treacherous Existence

Ayn Rand was born on February 2, 1905 in St. Petersburg Russia mere three weeks after the bloody 1905 Revolution (Heller 2). At this time her name was Alisa Rosenbaum. It was not until she reached the United States that she traitorously altered her name to Ayn Rand. Alisa was born into a family of jewish people living in an anti-semitic country, making life at times - a struggle. Her parents’ names were Zelman Wolf Zakharovich Rosenbaum - better known as “Zinovy” - and Khana Berknovana Kaplan - better known as “Anna” - had been married 9 months before her birth. Along with her parents (Heller 3). Alisa had two sisters named Natasha and Nora. Her father, Zinovy was a hard working man. He himself grew up in a poor family with little material wealth to speak of. He worked very diligently and actively to attempt to become the best man he could be and to make a life for himself. His hard work ultimately gained him entry into Warsaw University - a great feat considering how few Jews are admitted to the university. Here, Zinovy worked for a degree in chemistry and attained great knowledge which he would later use. Zinovy himself had originally aspired to be a writer but viewed it as something that was not very practical and ultimately gave it up. After getting his degree, Zinovy opened a business in St. Petersburg, coincidentally it was a chemistry business called a pharmacy. His shop did not net a huge profit, but Zinovy, through hard work and devotion was able to accumulate enough wealth to move his family to the Nevsky Prospekt - a prime real estate location for wealthy families. This was not his only altruistic feat. “[Zinovy] helped all but ...

... middle of paper ...

...he had to trick the officials as to the reason for her departure. “The Rosenbaums claimed that Alisa intended to study American movies and return to help launch the Russian film industry” (Burns 18). Finally, in 1926 she departed from Leningrad. Famously shouting out of the train: “I’ll be famous by the time I return” (Burns 18). Alisa’s journey had just begun. She had left the dreadful life of communism behind in search of a new life. One with freedom. A new life, which would greatly alter her writings and in turn alter the world.

Works Cited

Belle-Villada, Gene H. "Who Was Ayn Rand." ProQuest. 2004. ProQuest Discovery. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.

Burns, Jennifer. Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Heller, Anne Conover. Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York, NY: Anchor, 2010. Print.