Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 - January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City, famous less for his own artistic achievement than for his social influence. Born in Rochester, New York, to a very wealthy Bostonian family, he was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1930. His father was chairman of Filene's Department Store, in Boston, and his mother was the daughter of a successful clothing manufacturer in Rochester, New York. English critic, Clement Crisp, wrote:—