bio notes:
born: 2/2/1905
died: 3/6/1982
born as: Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum

Russian-born American writer who, in novels noted for their commercial success, presented her philosophy of objectivism, which held that all real achievement is the product of individual ability and effort, that laissez-faire capitalism is most congenial to the exercise of talent, and that selfishness is a virtue, altruism a vice. Her reversal of the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic won her a cult of followers. - Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature