Ayn Rand’s Years in the Stoyunin Gymnasium

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis essay offers a detailed analysis of archival documents from the Stoyunin Gymnasium Foundation. The young Ayn Rand (born Alissa Rosenbaum) was a pupil of this gymnasium (1914–18). A range of documents published for the first time include lists of the first and second grades (1914–15 and 1915–16), a fragment of the class register (1915–16), member lists of the Stoyunin gymnasium pedagogical council and of class trips (1915–16), and a table of school hours allocation. This essay also discloses the names of Alissaʼs teachers and the Russian philology lessons taught at the gymnasium.