View source for Alice B. Toklas

'''Alice B. Toklas''' (pronounced: /ˈælɪs biː ˈtoʊkləs/) was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century. She is best known for her relationship with [[Gertrude Stein]], who was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector.

==Etymology==
The name Alice is of Old German origin, meaning "noble, exalted". The surname Toklas is of Lithuanian origin, but its exact meaning is unknown.

==Life and Career==
Alice B. Toklas was born in San Francisco, California, in 1877. She met Gertrude Stein in Paris in 1907, and they were together until Stein's death in 1946. Toklas was an influential figure in the Parisian art scene and was known for her literary salon, where leading figures of modernism in literature and art, such as [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], and [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], would meet.

==Legacy==
Toklas is best known for her cookbook, ''The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook'', which was a bestseller and is still in print today. The book includes recipes, anecdotes, and reflections on her time with Stein and their circle of friends. It also includes a recipe for "hashish fudge", which has led to her name being associated with cannabis culture.

==Related Terms==
* [[Avant-garde]]: The avant-garde are people or works that are experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.
* [[Literary salon]]: A gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.
* [[Modernism]]: A philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[[Category:People]]
[[Category:American expatriates in France]]
[[Category:LGBT people from the United States]]
[[Category:American cookbook writers]]
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