Kate Chopin, born Katherine O’Flaherty (February 8, 1850 — August 22, 1904), was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of the feminist authors of the 20th century.

From 1892 to 1895, she wrote short stories for both children and adults which were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century Magazine, and The Youth’s Companion. Her major works were two short story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Her important short stories included “Désirée’s Baby,” a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana (published in 1893), “The Story of an Hour” (1894), and “The Storm”(1898).