Gertrude Stein was born on February 3, 1874 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania to upper-middle-class Jewish parents Danile Stein and Amelia Stein, née Keyser. The Stein family moved to Vienna and Paris for a year before settling in Oakland, California.

From 1893 to 1897, Gertrude Stein attended Radcliffe College. Here she met William James, who became a mentor. He convinced her to enroll in Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In her fourth year, she lost interest and left after failing an important course. She would later write about her experience, in Things As They Are. She described herself as depressed, struggling with a paternalistic culture, and the pressure of fitting into female role. It was during this time, Stein met and became infatuated with Mary Bookstaver, who was in a relationship with another student, Mabel Haynes. This experience served as her “erotic awakening”. The unhappy love triangle likely contributed to her decision to leave her medical schooling.

In 1902, Gertrude Stein followed her brother, Leo, to London. In 1903, they moved to Paris, France. Here, she hosted a salon, where she met with many leading figures in literature and art, such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, and Henri Matisse.

Gertrude and Leo amassed an art collection that would later be renowned for its historical importance.

On September 8, 1907, Gertrude Stein met her life partner, Alice B. Toklas at Michael and Sarah Stein’s Paris apartment. Alice and Gertrude spent nearly four decades together, until Stein’s death.

Gertrude Stein is known for her literary work, writing many books, poems, and plays in her lifetime. Her first was Q.E.D., written October 24, 1903, unpublished until 1950 as Things As They Are. She later wrote Fernhurst, Three Lives, The Making of Americans, Word Portraits, Tender Buttons, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and many more. Much of Stein’s work centers on same-sex relationships.

On July 27, 1946, Stein passed away from complications during a surgical procedure for stomach cancer.