Anderson remained unfazed by this critique.

Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) was described as "very attractive and very interesting" and "extraordinarily brilliant." A friend of Stein's, he was born in Rome in 1880 and became a significant figure in the French avant-garde. Apollinaire wrote essays on cubist painters and experimented with different tones and styles in his poetry. Toklas remarked that after his death, "everybody ceased to be friends."

Georges Braque

Georges Braque (1882–1963) occasionally attended Stein's gatherings. Alongside Picasso, he developed the art movement known as cubism. Toklas recounts a tale where Braque, a decorated French war hero, punched an art dealer who intentionally kept the prices of cubist paintings low at a government auction to "kill cubism."

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) is often referred to as the father of modern art. As a French painter and one of the pioneering post-impressionists, he was famous for his innovative use of color and perspective. He was a friend of Stein's and was gaining popularity when she began purchasing his paintings from Vollard. Cézanne's impact on artists like Matisse and Picasso was immense.

T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) engaged in a single conversation with Stein, primarily discussing "split infinitives and other grammatical solecisms and why Gertrude Stein uses them." Eliot accepted one of Stein's pieces for publication in The New Criterion, which he edited.

Bernard Fay

Bernard Fay, a Professor at the Collège de France and director of the National Library, was one of Stein's "four permanent friends." He authored works such as Revolution and Freemasonry and Franklin.

Juan Gris

Juan Gris (1887–1927), a friend of both Stein and Picasso, moved to Paris in 1906, where he met Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Toklas described him at that time as "a raw rather effusive youth." Like Braque and Picasso, Gris was a cubist and also explored various media. Stein wrote a book about him, The Life and Death of Juan Gris.

Helene

Helene served as Stein’s maid at 27, rue de Fleurus. Toklas referred to her as "one of those admirable bonnes, in other words, excellent maids of all work." Helene had strong opinions about Stein's guests; for instance, she disliked Henri Matisse, considering him rude for a Frenchman. She left the Stein household in 1914 after her husband received a promotion and wanted her to remain at home.

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American author who met Gertrude Stein after World War I. Alice B. Toklas describes him as a focused and determined individual who admired writers like Ford Madox Ford and Stein herself. Hemingway and Stein often engaged in literary discussions, and Stein advised him to leave journalism to pursue writing full-time, which he eventually did. When Hemingway first encountered Stein, he was working on the stories that would become In Our Time (1925).

Although Toklas expresses doubt about the story she recounts, she mentions that Hemingway facilitated the serialization of The Making of Americans in Ford Madox Ford’s Transatlantic Review and convinced Robert McAlmon’s Contact Editions to publish it as a book in 1925. Initially, Hemingway was friends with American author Sherwood Anderson and brought Stein a letter of introduction from him, but they later had a falling out. Stein held mixed feelings about Hemingway; she admitted to having a "weakness" for him but also hinted that he was somewhat self-absorbed.

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse (1869–1954) was a French painter whose artwork was collected by Stein and her brother Leo. Regarded as a pivotal figure in 20th-century art, Matisse was renowned for his use of color to evoke emotion, depict forms, and structure spatial planes. His early influences included French painters Paul Gauguin and Paul Cézanne, as well as Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, and later he was inspired by the pointillist works of Henri Edmond Cross and Paul Signac. In 1905, he showcased his art alongside André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. Known for their use of vibrant colors and distorted shapes to convey intense emotions, the trio became known as les fauves ("the wild beasts"). When Stein first met Matisse, he was 35, struggling with depression, and financially destitute, but after the 1905 exhibition, he gained widespread recognition and popularity. Stein introduced Matisse to Picasso.

Fernande Olivier

Fernande Olivier was Picasso's lover, initially described by Toklas as "a tall beautiful woman with a wonderful big hat and a very evidently new dress." Later, Toklas notes that Fernande "was not the least amusing" and that her conversation was limited to two topics: hats and perfumes.

Francis Picabia

Francis Picabia (1879–1959) frequently appears in various stories. He was a Spanish-descended artist known for his drawing, painting, and poetry, and he was associated with the cubists. Picabia painted a portrait of Stein and was a close friend of Guillaume Apollinaire. In the final chapter, he introduces Tristan Tzara to Paris, who is recognized for pioneering Dadaism.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) is widely regarded as the most influential artist of the 20th century. He is celebrated for his groundbreaking work in cubism, collage, and assemblage. Although born in Spain, Picasso spent most of his life in France, where he formed a close friendship with Stein, who collected many of his artworks. Toklas describes him as "small quick moving but not restless, his eyes having a strange faculty of opening wide and drinking in what he wished to see." She also notes that he is unpredictable, intense, and often impolite, yet undeniably a genius. His interactions with fellow artists like Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Henri Matisse are central to many stories in the book. Despite occasional disputes, Stein and Picasso reconcile and maintain a lifelong friendship.

Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (1885–1972) visits Stein and Toklas in Paris. While Toklas finds him intriguing, she does not consider him particularly entertaining. She remarks, "he was a village explainer, excellent if you were a village, but if you were not, not." Pound's literary ideas and his role as a correspondent for Poetry magazine significantly influenced modern poetry.

Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) is the true author of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, yet she writes from the perspective of Alice B. Toklas. This narrative choice allows Stein to comment on herself without appearing overly self-important or arrogant. By having Toklas narrate, Stein leverages the humor in this perspective shift and highlights their obvious affection for each other. Wendy Steiner describes Stein's portrayal in the autobiography as follows: "The writer records another's perceptions of her and in so doing creates the other who is then found to be the writer herself." This blending of identities mirrors cubism, where forms intersect and blend together.

Leo Stein

In the book, Leo Stein (1872–1947) is referred to only as "Gertrude Stein’s brother." He lived with his sister from 1903 to 1913 and played a major role in introducing her to modern art. Together, they acquired paintings by artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse, Gris, and Picasso. After 1913, he is scarcely mentioned due to a falling out with his sister.

Alice B. Toklas

Alice B. Toklas (1877–1967) was Gertrude Stein's partner for nearly forty years. She is the supposed narrator of Stein's book, through whom Stein tells the story of her life. A short biography of Toklas appears in the opening chapter. She was born in San Francisco to a family of "Polish patriotic stock" and had a domestic disposition, enjoying activities like gardening and needlework. Toklas was responsible for typing and proofreading Stein's manuscripts, finding publishers for Stein's work, and managing their household. She also entertained the wives and partners of the writers, artists, and other visitors to their home, as Stein often found the women uninteresting. Stein has Toklas recall, "The geniuses came and talked to Gertrude Stein and the wives sat with me."

Toklas first met Stein in Paris in 1907 and began living with her in 1909. She had previously known Stein's older brother, Michael, from San Francisco. In her memoir, What Is Remembered (1963), Toklas writes about that meeting:

"In the room were Mr. and Mrs. Stein and Gertrude Stein. It was Gertrude Stein who held my complete attention . . . . She was a golden brown presence, burned by the Tuscan sun and with a golden glint in her warm brown hair. She was dressed in a warm brown corduroy suit. She wore a large round coral brooch and when she talked, very little, or laughed, a good deal, I thought her voice came from this brooch. It was unlike anyone else’s voice—deep, full velvety like a great contralto’s, like two voices. She was large and heavy with delicate small hands and a beautifully modeled and unique head."

Carl Van Vechten

Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964) was an American music critic, novelist, photographer, and a close friend of Stein. He authored The Music of Spain (1918), Peter Whiffle (1922), and Nigger Heaven (1926), among other works. He was involved in the Harlem Renaissance and is recognized for his efforts to promote improved interracial relations. He and Stein exchanged correspondence for many years, and Van Vechten visited her in Paris. Upon her death, Stein left him funds to publish all of her unpublished works.

Ambrose Vollard

Ambrose Vollard (1865–1939) was an ambitious art dealer in Paris who vigorously promoted Paul Cézanne's work. The Steins purchased their first Cézanne from Vollard and continued to acquire many more paintings from him. Toklas described him as "a huge dark man" and somewhat gloomy.

Alfred North Whitehead

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) was a professor at the University of London when Stein and Toklas visited him and his wife just before the start of World War I. He was one of three geniuses Toklas claimed to have met, the other two being Stein and Picasso.