Zora Neale Hurston was an influential African American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. She is best known for her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which is considered a classic of African American literature.

Hurston was born in 1891 in Alabama and grew up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-black towns in the United States. She attended Barnard College in New York City and later studied anthropology at Columbia University under renowned anthropologist Franz Boas.

Hurston's work as an anthropologist took her to the American South and the Caribbean, where she studied African American folklore and culture. She incorporated these experiences into her writing, which often featured strong, independent black female characters.

Despite her contributions to literature and anthropology, Hurston struggled to gain recognition during her lifetime and died in poverty in 1960. However, her work has since been rediscovered and appreciated for its insight into the African American experience and its celebration of black culture and identity. Today, Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most important figures in Black history and American literature.