Ayn Rand ( Alisa Zinov ` yevna Rosenbaum , St Petersburg February 2 , 1905 â `` New York City March 6 , 1982 ) was a Russian-born American writer , screenwriter , playwright and philosopher . Ayn Rand ( Ë aÉ n Ë rÃ nd ; born Alisa Zinov ` yevna Rosenbaum , â `` March 6 , 1982 ) , was a Russian-American novelist , philosopher , playwright , and screenwriter .