Ernest Hemingway: biography, personal life, cause of death of the writer, photos and interesting facts

Ernest Hemingway - biography

Ernest Hemingway is a classic of world literature of American origin. Unlike his contemporaries, who relied more on theoretical knowledge, the writer was guided by his own experience. He didn't come up with much.

The writer took his characters, situations and facts from real life. In his creative activity, he was helped by intuition, which is difficult to find, as well as the ability to notice the peculiarities of human behavior.

The biography of Ernest Hemingway is a complex kaleidoscope and includes many episodes. He managed to work as a journalist and police correspondent.

Together with his father, he hunted for a long time, was often in nature, managed to take part in the First World War in various capacities, received serious injuries and got out.

Childhood and youth

Ernest Miller Hemingway (full name) was born on July 21, 1899 in the small town of Oak Park, which was located a few kilometers from Chicago.

The writer's family was quite wealthy; the man came from an intelligent environment. At the same time, no one had anything to do with the world of professional literature.

His father, whose name was Clarence Hemingway, worked as a doctor and graduated from a medical school. He was a stern, broad-shouldered man. Silent and sometimes reserved.

According to the recollections of the writer himself, he always kept children under great strictness and could use his leather belt for disobedience.

Hemingway (right) with his parents, brother and sisters

The writer's mother, Grace Hall, was the complete opposite of her father. A strange, eccentric woman, she appeared on stage for a long time and worked as an opera singer. However, she could not stand the bright light of the spotlights. Moreover, despite her strong and beautiful singing voice, the woman did not like to go out and perform in front of many people at the same time.

Ultimately, she left the creative profession. In the future, she often and often blamed others for the inglorious end of her career.

Grace's behavior also affected her family. Ernest was the second child (the couple raised six in total). The mother really wanted a girl. Therefore, for the first four years, she constantly dressed Hemingway in dresses, tied a lush bow on his head and called him “doll.”

Ernest Hemingway as a child in a dress

It is interesting that despite his young age, the writer remembered these times well. Subsequently, stories about the powerlessness of the protagonist, who is trying to regain his masculinity, appeared more than once as a leitmotif in various works of the writer.

As soon as the boy turned 4 years old, he began to dress according to his gender. The mother continued to take care of the family and children.

My father was keen on fishing, hunting, and often went on nature hikes. He invariably took Ernest on his forays. And from the very first years of life. At three years old the boy received his own fishing rod. These impressions played a big role in the writer’s further creative career.

Ernest Hemingway with a fishing rod 1904

He devoted a lot of literary time to the topic of nature and man’s relationship to it.

During his school years, Ernest Hemingway became addicted to reading. He liked both classical and contemporary literature. Gradually he began to write himself.

So far, these have not been independent works of fiction, but short essays about interesting events that occurred in the writer’s hometown.

In 1916, the young man visited Michigan. He was greatly impressed by the local nature. So much so that he sat down to write a new work. It was the hunting story “Sepi Zhingan”.

The future writer grew up to be a versatile, multifaceted personality. Sport was of great importance in his life. He was interested in swimming and football. But he showed special interest in boxing.

Martial arts played a cruel joke on Hemingway. One day, after another fight in the ring, he suffered brain damage. After which I practically stopped hearing with my left ear and seeing with one eye.

By the way, this injury made itself felt for a long time and became the reason why they did not want to take the young man into the army when the First World War began.

Hemingway also studied music. My mother insisted on studying. She persistently taught her son to play the cello. It got to the point that the boy did not go to school, skipping classes for the next home rehearsal.

The young man obeyed the will of his mother. Although in reality Hemingway hated these activities. Fate did not endow him with a natural gift, as well as a love for music. However, knowledge of the basic principles of solfeggio and theory helped him in his literary work.

It was thanks to his understanding of the movement of music that he could control the rhythm of the narrative, which he used more than once in his works.

During his school years, Ernest Hemingway firmly decided that he wanted to connect his life with literature. My parents were categorically against this.

The father insisted that his son enter a medical school and become a doctor.
And the mother - so that the young man develops as a professional musician.

In those years, the future writer did not argue and continued his studies.

After school, Ernest Hemingway refuses to follow the wishes of his parents. He chooses his own path and gets a job at a city newspaper in Kansas.

Hemingway in his youth

Very soon he received the position of police correspondent. During his work, Hemingway encountered all the delights of the downside of society: death, the criminal world, prostitution, drugs.

Due to the nature of his work, he visited prisons, crime scenes, and fires. However, oddly enough, he liked this work. He actively studied and adopted the personal characteristics of law enforcement officers, criminals, listened to and memorized dialogues, and the manner of speech of the people around him.

In the future, this is what helped him create interesting characters and plots.

Canada, France and journalism

Having healed the wounds received in Europe, in 1920 Hemingway moved to Canada, where he began working as a reporter for the Toronto Star. First, he again writes about “high” society, ridiculing its features, and then takes on an important topic for himself - the life of veterans.

After some time, due to a conflict with his mother, he takes all his things from his parents' house and goes to Chicago, working as an editor at the Cooperative Commonwealth. He gets married in Chicago and goes to Paris with his wife, while continuing to work for a Toronto newspaper.

In Paris, he begins to actively write - so that he has enough money for travel and, simply, food for his family. Therefore, he works on sketches about life in the French capital, as well as sarcastic essays about Americans who rushed to Europe for the sweet life.

He also becomes a frequent visitor to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, where he meets Gertrude Stein and James Joyce.

Writer at the front

In 1917, near the end of World War I, the United States takes part in the fighting. Young people are being called to the front.

Hemingway, being a romantic nature, goes to the assembly points in the first rows. However, due to a long-standing head injury, he was categorically refused to be drafted. The young man does not give up. He goes to the front as a Red Cross volunteer.

Hemingway at the front

His first place of service was a small detachment in a provincial town. However, the young man did not see real combat. Although this is exactly what he was counting on.

In 1918, Hemingway was transferred to the position of ambulance driver. His task is to transport food directly to the front line.

Just a few months later, Hemingway, by chance, saves a helpless sniper. However, he comes under fire from an Austrian machine gunner and himself receives terrible wounds.

The young man is sent for treatment to Milan. Here he is in the hospital for some time. Several dozen fragments are removed from Hemingway's body. Replace the damaged kneecap with a prosthesis.

Hemingway in the hospital

After a long period of treatment, in 1919 the man returned back to the United States. For his valor, he receives a reward from the King of Italy. And also the Military Cross.

Upon arrival, he was greeted like a true hero.

Volunteer in the First World War

Due to poor eyesight, Ernest was not accepted into the army, but as soon as the First World War began, he decided to volunteer. He moves to Europe and goes to Italy - there he was offered a driver's seat in a Red Cross charity mission. But from the very first day he finds himself in the territory of the blown up plant - for clearing. His thoughts from that period will eventually become the basis for the book “A Farewell to Arms!” Further, no matter what job he was offered, he did not like it, since it was not connected with the front line and active military operations. Therefore, he offers his assistance in delivering food to soldiers on the first line of the front.

In July 1918, Ernest received about 200 wounds - he came under fire from the Austrian military while rescuing an Italian sniper. There is another version of this story: during a truce between the two sides, Ernest wanted to capture the shooting from the Italian army and asked for one salvo. The Italians agreed, but the Austrians were not warned about the “demonstration performance.” As a result, they returned fire, during which the Italian sniper was injured, because at that time he was at the intersection of two sides. Since Hemingway was the initiator of everything, he was sent to get his wounded comrade. During which he received so many injuries and a crushed kneecap.

Be that as it may, he returned to the USA as a hero. He was the first American soldier to be wounded at the front in Italy, and the king of that country even awarded him the Military Cross and a silver medal for military valor.

Creation

Soon after returning to his native country, Hemingway leaves. Canada becomes his new place of residence. Here he gets a job as a journalist in one of the publications.

After a short period of time, the writer returns to the USA. He quarrels strongly with his mother, takes all his things and moves to Chicago, which is located not far from the writer’s hometown.

Here he finds work in a newspaper and at the same time continues to collaborate with the Canadian publication.

In 1921, Hemingway married. Together with his wife, he moves to Paris. The writer expresses his impressions from this period of his life in his memoirs entitled “A Holiday that is Always with You.”

After some time, the man meets the eccentric writer Gertrude Stein. It was she who gave Hemingway the idea that he needed to realize himself in the field of literature, not journalism. Oddly enough, the man heeded this advice.

The creative biography of Ernest Hemingway began in 1926. The first well-deserved fame comes to him. The novel “The Sun Also Rises” becomes his debut in great literature. The writer acted as the prototype of the main character.

A few years later, the writer created a work that is still considered his calling card. We are talking about the novel “A Farewell to Arms!”

Ernest Hemingway in Cuba 1934

Later, the writer also worked on small forms. Prepares stories and novellas. The most outstanding work was published in 1952. It was the philosophical story “The Old Man and the Sea”.

E. Hemingway “The Old Man and the Sea” audiobook

For a relatively short story that was loved by critics, Ernest Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

Brief biography of Hemingway

In one of the intelligent American families in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, on July 21, 1899, a boy was born who was named Ernest Miller Hemingway. His father, Clarence Edmond, practiced medicine. And her mother, Grace Hall, was a high-level opera soloist.

Childhood and youth

His mother was initially a strange woman and, until the age of 4, dressed Ernest in girl’s dresses and braided bows for him. Matriarchy reigned in the family. Grace willfully answered her husband’s questions about her long-standing desire to give birth to a girl. The situation returned to normal when subsequent children appeared in the family.

Since childhood, Ernest learned to hunt and fish from his father. In his free time, the boy was completely immersed in the world of literature, ignoring games with his peers. Already at school age, several articles appeared from his pen, published in a local publication. At the age of 16, the young man wrote his first story dedicated to hunting, “Sepi Zhingan.”

At the same time, the boy wanted to develop physically and began to attend a boxing club. But soon he had to leave the ring, as his sparring partner seriously injured him. Ernest became temporarily blind and deaf on the left side. This defect did not allow Hemingway to serve in the army, where he was very eager to get into. Subsequently, he managed to get a job as a driver in a medical battalion. In 1918 he was wounded in Italy and was discharged.

After demobilization, Ernest decided to settle in Canada. This is where the skills of a writer came in handy and a vacancy was easily found in the Toronto Star newspaper. After 3 years, the young writer moved to Paris and began his literary career. His mentor was the 47-year-old American writer Gertrude Stein, who lives in France. Ernest learned quality experience from her.

Popularity

Hemingway first became truly popular in 1926 after the release of the novel The Sun Also Rises. Over the next 20 years, the writer gave society the works “The Winner Gets Nothing,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” In 1949 he moved to live in Cuba. 3 years later, the literary masterpiece “The Old Man and the Sea” comes out of his pen. For this novel, Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes.

*The writer hated signing autographs, and wrote to an obsessive fan after 3 months of harassment: “To Victor Hill, a real son of a bitch who can’t take no for an answer!”

Rice. 3 Ernest Hemingway and Fidel Castro

Friends, acquaintances

Ernest Hemingway was human and preferred to make friends with people like himself, such as the writer Thornton Wilder, mentor Gertrude Stein, neighbors Taylor Williams and Charles Atkinson. He loved to brag about his romantic adventures. But all his friends called him “Puritan” because he did not like intrusions into his personal life with questions and immediately blushed.

He interviewed Mussolini in 1922 and joked about him, calling the leader of the Italian fascists the greatest charlatan. He did not see eye to eye with Fidel Castro and was forced to leave Cuba after a party member came to power, losing his real estate.

Personal life

The writer was married 4 times. With his first wife, Elizabeth Hadley Richardson, they had a son, John. They soon divorced because Ernest hit on her friend Paulina Pfeiffer and married her. The marriage produced sons Patrick and Gregory. The marriage turned out to be unhappy and fleeting.

For the third time, the writer married journalist Martha Gellhorn, but could not withstand her dominant pressure and divorced in 1945. Finally, Hemingway found the woman of his dreams - Mary Welsh, to whom he became engaged for the 4th time. She was flexible and tolerated all his romantic adventures. Actresses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich are considered among his mistresses.

Rice. 4 Ernest Hemingway and Mary Welsh

Personal life

The writer was a rather loving man. I often fell in love. At the same time, the women reciprocated his feelings. The writer had many novels.

Ernest Hemingway himself had the image of a ladies' man who had fun with ladies of easy virtue. However, whether everything he said about himself is really true remains a mystery.

Despite the kaleidoscope of ladies in the writer’s personal biography, there were only a few major hobbies in his life.

The man's first chosen one was nurse Agnes von Kurowski. It was she who helped Hemingway recover from a serious wound in a military hospital. She was 7 years older than the young man.

At some point, the woman actually intended to marry the writer. But very soon she became interested in the young lieutenant, with whom she decided to connect her life.

Ernest Hemingway's first official wife was pianist Elizabeth Hadley Richardson.

Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Elizabeth Hadley

The woman could not boast of either aristocratic manners or great beauty. However, she supported her husband throughout the years. She tried to make his work easier and even gave Hemingway a typewriter as a gift.

After marriage, the couple settled in Paris. They lived quite modestly. The union produced a son named John Hadley Nicanor.

Hemiway with his son John

The writer often visited small restaurants. Very soon he became interested in Duff Twisden. A local socialite. The lady did not have good manners, behaved rudely and defiantly, swore and drank a lot.

However, it was precisely this kind of extravagance that men liked. Including the writer himself. Nothing serious came of this hobby.

Ernest Hemingway's second wife is a friend of his wife named Paulina Pfeiffer. She did not have to forcibly take her husband away from her friend. He himself showed interest.

Hemingway soon divorced his second wife and entered into a new official union. The wife gave birth to two children to the writer. Gregory and Patrick.

Ernest Hemiway and Pauline Pfeiffer

In the late 30s, a man meets Martha Gellhorn on his way. She worked as a correspondent and met the writer completely by accident.

Inspired by the meeting, the man divorces his second wife. In 1940, she and Gellhorn got married. However, a lasting alliance does not work out.

Hemingway, accustomed to the complaisance of women, never expected the serious pressure of his new passion. Meanwhile, Martha had a strong character and was very headstrong.

Ernest Hemingway and his third wife Martha

The union lasted 5 years. The last chosen one and official wife of the writer was Mary Welsh. She, like his second wife, supported Hemingway in everything. She helped him until the very end.

The last serious hobby of the writer was the young girl Adriana Ivancic. However, the man was several decades older than her. The person saw him as a father at best.

Ernest Hemingway with his fourth wife Mary Welsh

The fourth wife was calm about her husband’s affairs on the side. She knew her husband too well and understood that his interest faded as quickly as it flared up. For many years she adhered to this position, which helped save the marriage.

Briefly about creativity

The works of Ernest Hemingway are distinguished by their “simplicity” of perception. Being an opponent of "pompous phrases", Ernie writes in a simple, ascetic style. Clarity and capacity of construction are Hemingway’s distinctive trump card. The writer uses the “iceberg” technique, that is, there is a hidden subtext around a laconic, strict plot. This subtext contains all the emotions, symbols, associations, and all the “artistry” of the text. Dry at first glance, Hemingway's text evokes the strongest feelings of readers and touches the very soul of a person.

"Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)", an analysis of the novel by Ernest Hemingway
"Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)", a summary of the novel by Ernest Hemingway
“A Farewell to Arms!”, analysis of Hemingway’s novel
“A Farewell to Arms!”, a summary of Hemingway’s novel
“The Old Man and the Sea,” analysis of Hemingway’s story
"The Old Man and the Sea", history of creation
“The Old Man and the Sea,” a summary of Hemingway’s story

By writer: Ernest Hemingway

The end of life's journey

Ernest Hemingway came close to death many times. I got into accidents and got injured. At the same time, fate, it would seem, protected him from all adversity. However, at the end of his life, she played a cruel joke on him.

Shortly before his death, the writer was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension. Specialists insisted that he go to the Mayo Clinic for examination.

Ernest Hemingway at the Mayo Clinic

During the writer's stay within the walls of the hospital, he suffered from insanity. It seemed to him as if FBI agents were following on his heels, looking through his letters, studying his bank accounts.

Paranoia and mental disorder forced doctors to transfer the writer to the hands of psychiatrists.

In those years, one of the few ways to eliminate mental illnesses was electroconvulsive therapy. Hemingway received 13 sessions of this “treatment” and left the clinic as a mentally crippled person. He was unable to write: the man experienced deep memory lapses.

After leaving the hospital, the writer tried to commit suicide several times. But they managed to stop him.

Finally, the attempt was successful. Hemingway died on July 2, 1961. The writer committed suicide in his own home. He shot himself with his favorite gun, following the sad example of his brother, sister and father - they all committed suicide.

The reasons for the fatal step are still unknown. The man did not leave a note.

Hemingway was buried in a cemetery in Ketchum, Idaho, next to the grave of Taylor Williams, a friend and hunting and fishing partner who had died two years earlier.

Ernest Hemingway's grave

After the war

In 1945, Hemingway returned to Cuba , where he had a home. Over the next three years, he wrote mainly stories.
In 1949, he began work on the novel Across the River, in the Shade of the Trees , which was published in 1950.
In 1951, Hemingway began writing The Old Man and the Sea , which was published in 1952. For this work, the writer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize , and in 1954 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature .
From 1955 to 1960, the writer worked on the books “African Diary” and “ A Holiday that is Always With You”
At the end of 1960 he moved to the USA. From that time on, suffering from several illnesses, the writer fell into depression, which developed into mental illness . Treatment at the clinic did not produce positive results.
On July 2, 1961, Hemingway shot himself at his home in Ketchum. He did not leave a suicide note, so it is believed that the shot was fired accidentally while cleaning the gun. The writer was buried in a local cemetery.

Interesting Facts

As researchers of the writer’s life say, apparently, the obsession with surveillance was not so crazy. Hemingway actually had FBI agents keeping an eye on him. This fact has been documented.
The man suffered many fatal diseases: from skin cancer to malaria. But every time he managed to get out.
Hemingway was a famous cat person. At one point, there were 20 cats living in his house.

Ernest Hemingway with cats

The writer really did not like giving autographs and speaking in public.
During his creative history, the writer created 7 novels, 6 collections of short prose, as well as several popular science works.
The writer preferred to work while standing. I could spend the whole day on my feet.

Ernest Hemingway. Nobel with Dmitry Bykov.