Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet, and art collector who spent most of her life in France. She was born on February 3, 1874, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children. Her father, Daniel Stein, was a successful businessman, and her mother, Amelia (née Keyserling), was a homemaker. Stein was educated at home until she was nine years old, when she was sent to a Catholic boarding school in New York City. She then attended Radcliffe College, where she studied psychology with William James.
After graduation, Stein moved to Paris with her brother Leo, where they lived for several years. While in Paris, she became interested in the avant-garde art scene and began collecting works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and other modern artists. In 1903, she met her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, with whom she would live for the rest of her life.
Stein began her literary career in Paris with the publication of Three Lives (1909), a collection of short stories about working-class women in America. The book was well-received by critics and established her as a significant voice in modern fiction. She went on to publish a number of other novels, poems, and plays, including The Making of Americans (1925), which is considered her masterpiece.
In addition to her literary work, Stein was also a major figure in the development of avant-garde art in the 20th century. She was friends with many of the leading artists of her time, including Picasso, Matisse, and Ernest Hemingway. She helped to promote their work and collected their paintings and sculptures.
Stein died of cancer on July 27, 1946, at her home in France. She was 72 years old.
General Info
Full Name
Gertrude Stein
Died
July 27, 1946, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Profession
Author, Poet, Librettist
Education
Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Radcliffe College, Harvard University
Nationality
American
Family
Parents
Daniel Stein, Amelia Stein
Siblings
Leo Stein, Michael Stein
Accomplishments
Awards
Obie Award for Best Musical, Lambda Literary Award for Editor's Choice Award
Coined the popular phrases "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" and "There is no there there" (said in reply to a friend talking about Oakland, CA, who said, "I'm going there").
3
Her older brother Leo Stein moved to London in 1902, and she followed a few months later. They moved together to Paris in 1903, where they settled on the Left Bank, and shared a house and collected art together until 1914.
4
Was a longtime friend of Ernest Hemingway, who wrote about her salon (a regular gathering of people, generally intellectuals or cultural icons, held for their mutual amusement to discuss culture, current affairs, increase the knowledge and refine the tastes of the participants, and often to bask in their own glow) in his memoir of his life in France, "A Moveable Feast".
Long-time companion of Alice B. Toklas, who she met in 1907. They stayed together until Gertrude's death in 1946.
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She sarcastically advocated awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Adolf Hitler " . . . because he is removing all the elements of contest and of struggle from Germany. By driving out the Jews and the democratic and Left element, he is driving out everything that conduces to activity. That means peace . . . " (New York Times Magazine, May 6, 1934).
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Was of German-Jewish ancestry.
9
Was an early patron of experimental painting.
10
When she was three years old her parents moved the family to Vienna, Austria, then to Paris, France. They moved back to California when she was four years old (1878), settling in Oakland, where she attended school until 1891, when she was 17 and her father died.
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Attended Radcliffe College (then the woman's annex of Harvard University) from 1893 to 1897, and then two years at Johns Hopkins Medical School, where she failed two courses and left without a degree, citing boredom.
Movies
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gertrude Stein's Brewsie and Willie
2012
Tender Buttons
2011
Short writer
Hubby/Wifey
2005
Short
Quest for Love
1988
novel "Q.E.D."
Three Plays by Gertrude Stein
1988
TV Short play
O Cinema Falado
1986
excerpt
Actor's Choice
1970
TV Series various writings - 1 episode
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now): The Poetry Show
2008
TV Movie
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Paris Was a Woman
1996
Documentary
Herself
The Unconquered
1954
Documentary
Herself (in Louis Braille procession) (uncredited)