Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was a Russian-born American novelist who reacted strongly against communist and socialist political ideals, as well as Christian virtues of altruism. She is most famous for extolling “the virtue of selfishness” in both her novels and her philosophy of objectivism. Her most popular novels are We the Living (1936), The Fountainhead (1943), and Atlas Shrugged (1957).