Gertrude STEIN was an American writer, poet, playwright, and art collector. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1874 and is best known for her modernist writings, including 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas' and 'Three Lives'. Her most famous work is the novel 'The Making of Americans'. STEIN was also a major figure in the Parisian avant-garde and was associated with the likes of Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. She died in 1946 in France.