Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on February 3, 1874, to an a
ffluent Jewish family, spent her early childhood in Vienna and Paris, and later
grew up in Oakland, California. At Radcliffe College she studied under William J
ames, who remained her lifelong friend, and then went to Johns Hopkins to study
medicine. Abandoning her studies, she moved to Paris with her brother Leo in 190
3. At 27 rue de Fleurus, Gertrude Stein lived with Alice B. Toklas, who would re
main her companion for forty years.
