Gertrude Stein

1874: Avant-garde American writer Gertrude Stein , whose Paris home was a salon for the leading artists and writers of the period between World Wars I and II, was born. (born Feb. 3, 1874, Allegheny City [now in Pittsburgh], Pa., U.S.—died July 27, 1946, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), avant-garde American writer, eccentric, and self-styled genius whose Paris home was a salon for the leading artists and writers of the period between World Wars I and II.The eccentric Stein was not modest in her self-estimation: “Einstein was the creative philosophic mind of the century, and I have been the creative literary mind of the century.” She became a legend in Paris, especially after surviving the German occupation of France and befriending the many young American servicemen who visited her. She wrote about these soldiers in Brewsie and Willie (1946).