February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982
It has been 30 years since Ayn Rand passed away. However, her philosophical and political theories are still common in debates today. Her two most famous novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged have been used by the right-wing to bolster their argument for pure capitalism and smaller government, and by the left-wing to illustrate the ills of greed and selfishness.
Rand passed away at the age of 77 from heart failure in her New York City apartment. It is said that “At her funeral, Ayn was laid out in a coffin next to a six-foot-tall dollar sign.”1 She is buried in Valhalla, New York beside her husband of 50 years. The sole heir of her estate was Leonard Peikoff, a philosopher whom she named in her Will. He ultimately founded the Ayn Rand Institute.2
You can read Ayn Rand’s obituary here.
1Tod Benoit, Where Are They Buried? (New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.), 320
