Gertrude Stein

Dates: February 3, 1874 - July 27, 1946

Occupation: writer, salon hostess

Known for: avant-garde writer and poet, the center of a circle of artists and writers living in or visiting Paris. Her writing was experimental, trading plot and dialogue for more "exact description of inner and outer reality" (in her own words). Her work, often cruelly parodied, is today otherwise largely forgotten and not often read, but she influenced others in developing a modernist literature.

About Gertrude Stein: Gertrude Stein was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Paris after failing to complete her medical studies at Johns Hopkins. A circle of writers and artists centered around first Stein and her brother, Leo, and later Stein and her partner, Alice B. Toklas.

Stein's experimental writing won her credence with those who were creating a modernist literature, but only one book she wrote was financially successful.

During World War I Gertrude Stein and Toklas provided emergency medical supplies; in World War II, their vulnerability led to their leading a quiet life away from Paris. Stein died in 1946, Toklas in 1967.

More About Gertrude Stein: For more details on Gertrude Stein, see the biography of Gertrude Stein on this site:

• Gertrude Stein biography

Places: Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Oakland, California; San Francisco, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Paris, France; Culoz, France.

Religion: Gertrude Stein's family was of German Jewish descent.

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