Ayn Rand was born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum in Russia in 1905. The 1917 Communist Revolution saw her father’s prosperous pharmaceutical business confiscated by government authorities, instilling in Rand a lasting hostility toward collectivist philosophies and government intervention in matters of economy and private property. She moved to the United States in 1926 and was impressed by the improved quality of life she experienced, compared with her time in the USSR. She supported the ideals of radical individualism and laissez-faire capitalism and opposed any altruistic ventures or socialist reforms—such as Roosevelt’s New Deal—which she perceived to threaten those foundational American values. Rand’s own experiences and convictions heavily influenced the messages and themes of her fictional works.

Prior to her success as a novelist, Rand worked as a screenplay writer in Hollywood, where she met her husband, Frank O’Connor. The couple married in 1929 and remained dedicated to each other until O’Connor’s death in 1979. O’Connor worked as an actor, rancher, artist, and homemaker, moving across the country and changing his occupation as the needs of his wife’s career dictated. He was unfailingly supportive of Rand and her work, consistently providing her with emotional and practical support. Rand dedicated The Fountainhead to her husband and has cited O’Connor as the primary inspiration and model for the idealized male protagonists of her novels.