User:CB8783/Rose Rand

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Rose Rand
Rose Rand (June 14, 1903 – July 28, 1980) was an Austrian-American logician and philosopher. She was a member of the Vienna Circle, and is also well known for her contribution of multiple translations of Eastern European philosophical works.

Early Life and Education
Rose (Rozalia) Rand was born in Lemberg in the Austrian crown land of Galicia (today, Lviv, Ukraine) on June 14, 1903. Rand attended a primary school in her hometown and attended the Josefa-S.-Goldblatt-Kamerling private high school.

After her family moved to Vienna, Austria she studied at the Polish Gymnasium in Vienna. She then moved to an all-girls secondary school in Währing, and then a public reform secondary school in 1922. Enrolling in Vienna University 1924, she studied physics and philosophy under Heinrich Gomperz, Moritz Schlick, and Rudolf Carnap. She graduated with her first degree in 1928.

Work in Vienna
During her post-graduation years, she remained in contact with Vienna Circle colleagues such as Schlick. As a PhD candidate, Rand participated regularly in the Vienna Circle discussions, and kept records of these discussions. She was most active in the Vienna Circle from 1930 to 1935. Between 1930 and 1937 she worked, and took part in research, at the Psychiatric-neurological Clinic of the Vienna University. She also earned money by tutoring students, giving adult education classes at the Philosophical Seminar Ottakring of the Volkshochschule Wien in the Volksheim, and translating Polish articles on logic.

In 1937 her doctoral thesis on Tadeusz Kotarbiński' s philosophy and logic was approved and she completed her PhD viva. In 1938, on the same day as she completed her final doctoral exam, she was awarded her PhD. However, due to her Jewish identity, Rand was barred from continuing her studies.

Rand, unemployed and of Jewish descent, suffered great difficulties in pre-World War II Vienna. In 1939, with the assistance of Susan Stebbing, she finally emigrated to London as a Jew without nationality leaving her mother and brothers behind.

Work in London
After a period of time in England in which she worked as a nurse she was admitted as "distinguished foreigner" at the faculty of Moral Science at Cambridge University. There she attended the seminars of Ludwig Wittgenstein and George Edward Moore. In 1943 she lost her privileges and had to work at a metal factory, and teach night classes in German and psychology at Luton Technical College and Tottenham Technical College as a way to make ends meet. After losing privileges, she also lost respect from her peers; Wittgenstein said "keep working in a factory because it was the best you can do." Other philosophers such as Bertrand Russell remained supportive of her work, stating "it could go somewhere once the war ended" and once her citizenship could again become concrete. Between 1943 and 1950 she also worked in practical engineering. Karl Popper helped her to get a small research grant, so she could attend Oxford University as a "recognized student" from 1950 to 1954.

Work in the U.S.
Rand moved to the United States in 1954. There she sought academic employment and initially attempted to pursue her research at the libraries of Princeton and Harvard universities. Between 1955 and 1959 she held temporary positions teaching elementary math, ancient philosophy, and logic, and was a research associate at the University of Chicago, Indiana University Northwest in Gary, and Notre Dame University.

In 1959 she returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts and after that to Princeton, New Jersey. In the following years she earned her living from grants and fellowships, which were given to her mostly for her work on translations of Polish and Russian logicians. When not supported by grants, Rand operated on private loans and other financial assistance, freelance translation work, or sporadic temporary employment. Rand struggled to gain permanent access to the Princeton University library and her lending rights were taken away in 1975 due to her not having any true connection to the university. She continued to work until the age of 76, translating logic papers and attempting to get her works published.

Rose Rand died on 28 July 1980 in Princeton, aged 77. On her death certificate, her only contact listed was a rabbi from New York.

Legacy
Rand's records at the University of Pittsburgh contain, among other things, her research, the records of the discussions in the Vienna Circle and over 1,600 letters to Otto Neurath, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alfred Tarski and others. Some of her correspondence (from her time as an émigré in England) is also held by Oxford University's Bodleian Library. Rand's work in translations contributed to the overall spread of knowledge from Tadeusz Kotarbiński, Jan Łukasiewicz, Stanisław Leśniewsli, and other Polish, Russian, and German philosophers.