Martha Gellhorn: why Hemingway's third wife didn't want to live in the shadow of her husband
'18.06.2021'
Source: ADME
Martha Gellhorn is the third wife of Ernest Hemingway, also known as the preeminent war correspondent of the twentieth century. Although Gellhorn would prefer to be remembered as a brilliant journalist rather than as the spouse of a writer, says ADME.
Martha Gellhorn is the only woman of Ernest Hemingway who decided not only to leave him, but also considered herself no less talented.
We sincerely hope that Bright Side readers will be imbued with the life story of this brave woman and her beautiful, albeit short-lived love with Ernest Hemingway, who would have turned 21 on July 121.
The meeting that determined fate
They met in late 1936 at an establishment in Key West, Florida. Thanks to the novel Farewell to Arms! and other books, Hemingway was already at the height of his popularity. And the 28-year-old writer Martha Gellhorn by that time returned from Paris, where she managed to work in the glamorous magazine Vogue, survived an unsuccessful romance with a married man, wrote a series of reports about the times of economic depression and even worked in the presidential administration.
Similar views on politics and a love of writing led to friendship between them. Hemingway offered Martha a business trip to New York to travel together to Spain, where civil unrest was taking place at the time. Acquaintance with the writer determined Gellhorn's entire future life - both personal and professional: it was he who prompted her to become a war reporter.
Before the joint trip to Spain, the beautiful Martha was not in love with Hemingway. His habits and ignorant demeanor led Gellhorn to write to his mother: "A man must be a great genius to behave so disgusting."
Love and peace
In Spain, passion flared up between them. Hemingway maintained a fighting and writing spirit in Martha, inexperienced in the horrors of war, and she saw him as a teacher and admired his courage. However, the writer was also subdued by the courage of his new lover.
After finishing work in Spain, the couple settled in Cuba. But in a calm, peaceful life on the island, everything turned out to be not so rosy.
Hemingway was a difficult person in everyday life, moreover, he demanded that Martha perform all household duties as a respectable wife, and was also constantly jealous of her. But Gellhorn became a bad wife for a writer, because she herself was a writer.
They got married 4 years after they met, but by that time their relationship had already deteriorated. The main reason is Martha's desire to continue to cover important events in Europe, but the writer wanted to see her only as home Mrs Hemingway, like his two previous wives were.
Former spouses are new rivals
At the end of 1943, Gellhorn, contrary to the persuasion of her husband, nevertheless left for Europe and again found herself at the epicenter of military events. Marta did not understand why her husband remained in Cuba, when the most important actions took place in Europe, and she so needed his support. But Hemingway remained to patrol the Cuban coast and joined an idle lifestyle.
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May 25, 1944 the writer had an accident - his drunk friend got behind the wheel and crashed the car. The day before, they had been at a party in Belgravia, London's most fashionable district. Gellhorn immediately went to the hospital, but saw her husband surrounded by cheerful friends and empty bottles of alcohol. She was so disappointed that instead of words of support, she said a sharp joke to her husband.
But the last straw was Hemingway's decision to work for Collier's Weekly magazine - thus he decided to take revenge on his wife for the fact that she again gave preference to work. In those years, only one correspondent could go to the front from each publishing house, and Collier's preferred Hemingway. Now Martha had no contract, no marriage, no opportunity to cover the most important events that were taking place at that moment at the front.
Their passion for work made them allies and competitors at the same time. Love has become hatred and rivalry.
Life without Hemingway
But Gellhorn was not going to give up and went to Europe without the official documents of the journalist. She tricked into a ship bound for France, posing as a nurse. Once on board, Marta found the nearest toilet and locked herself inside. Her ship crossed the English Channel and arrived in France on the morning of June 8.
After landing on the shore, Martha forgot that she was a journalist, and began to help the wounded. The woman worked day and night until the blisters in her arms, tried to do everything in her power. Gellhorn later finds out that none of the arriving correspondents went ashore, including her ex-husband. But as a result, Collier's printed Hemingway's 5-page report on the events in Normandy with a photograph of the writer surrounded by soldiers on the cover. And Gellhorn was just a leaf. Without a photograph, of course.
The family broke up in 1945, and after that Martha did not allow anyone to mention the name of her ex-spouse in her presence. She was unpleasant that, first of all, she was perceived as the ex-wife of the writer Hemingway, and only then as a talented reporter.
Over 60 years of her career in journalism, Gellhorn has not lost her compassion for the victims of conflict and reminded her readers that the fates of real people are hidden behind battle statistics. Martha was 87 the last time she worked as a correspondent. Until almost 89 years old, the correspondent was engaged in scuba diving and dreamed of traveling to Egypt to look at the pyramids.
Journalist, not a footnote in someone else's biography
In 2012, a movie with Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen was released on the relationship of Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway.
And in 2020, the book by the writer Paula MacLaine "Love and Ashes" was published, which also tells about great love and subsequent hatred between two strong personalities.
Martha Gellhorn possessed all the qualities of a true journalist. No wonder a memorial plaque dedicated to her as a war correspondent was unveiled in her London home. And it seems quite natural to remember this woman as a talented person, and not as the ex-wife of the writer Ernest Hemingway. However, she herself said: “I have been a writer for over 40 years. I was a writer before I met him, and I was a writer after I left him. Why should I just be a footnote in someone's life? "
