Martha Gellhorn

If one is known by the way one has lived one’s life; Martha Ellis Gellhorn was an
epitome of fearlessness & excellence in totality. An American novelist, an
outspoken journalist & a travel writer; Martha Gellhorn is often considered as
greatest war correspondents ever. She was one of the first and arguably the most
popular female war correspondent of twentieth century. Among all of the artistic
attributes she was blessed with, ‘Living-Life-On-Her-Own-Terms’ was the one which
absolutely stood out forever. The fearless approach became the fulcrum of her
career right from outset. Be it the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany during 1930s or
‘The Depression’ in states post global economic turmoil, she covered it all; & that
too with utmost courage and an immaculate sense of involvement.
Childhood & Early Life

 Martha Gellhorn was born on 8 th November 1908 in St. Louis, Missouri. She
was the only daughter amongst four children to her parents. Her father, George
Gellhorn was a prominent physician & professor of medicine at Washington
University & her mother, Edna Gellhorn was an influential civic leader & social
reformer.
 She studied from John Burroughs School in St. Louis & subsequently attended
Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia in 1926. However, she left her graduation
course unaccomplished to pursue a career in journalism.
 Her initial days of journalism were spent with ‘The New Republic’ and the
‘Albany Times Union’ in New York. In 1930, she moved to France with an
unwavering determination to become an international reporter. In France, she
spent the next two years working at the ‘United Press Bureau’ in Paris.
 During her period of stay in France, she became deeply associated with the
pacifist movement and compiled her experiences in the book ‘What Mad Pursuit’
(1934)
Career

 Upon her return to the USA, Martha Gellhorn was hired by Harry Hopkins, as a
field investigator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). For
FERA, she travelled across the United States to report on the Great Depression,
& its impact on the country. Subsequently she associated with a photographer
Dorothea Lange for documenting the day-to-day lives of hungry and homeless.
Later, their reports got to even become part of official government files for the
Great Depression.
 In 1936, she met Ernest Hemingway in Florida. Together, they travelled to
Spain and covered the Spanish Civil War. In Spain, she was hired to work for
Collier’s Weekly.
 In the years to follow, Martha Gellhorn reported on the rise of Adolf Hitler in
Germany. The novel ‘A Stricken Field’ (1940) is her description of events which
happened alongside the outbreak of World War II. During the same period, she
narrated the war from other countries also like England, Burma, Finland,
Hongkong and Singapore.
 To witness the Normandy landings of the world’s largest seaborne invasion
(often referred as D-Day) on June 6, 1944; she impersonated as a stretcher
carrier. On the fateful day, she was the only woman to land on Normandy.
 In 1945, Martha Gellhorn was present in Dachau, when US army liberated the
Dachau Concentration camp. Afterwards, she also reported on the prosecution
of Nazi war criminals in Germany.
 In 1966, she reported on the Vietnam war while working for a famous British
newspaper, The Guardian.
 In 1967, she covered the Six-Day War between Israel and other Arab nations.
 In 1970s and 1980s, she lived in several parts of England, Italy and Kenya; and
mostly focussed on writing short stories and novels.
 At the age of eighty-one, she reported on the United State’s invasion of Panama
in 1989.
 After having an illustrious career in journalism, Martha Gellhorn finally retired
with the start of 1990s. However, she did manage to go to Brazil in 1995, for
reporting on poverty in Brazil. This last accomplished feat of Gellhorn got
published in the literary journal Grant.
Major Works

 Martha Gellhorn’s findings across United States during the ‘Great Depression’
formed the basis of a collection of short-stories which got compiled as ‘The
Troubles I’ve Seen’ in 1936. This book became an instant sensation amongst
the American mass at large.
 She published numerous books, including ‘The Face of War’ (1959), a collection
of articles on war; ‘The Lowest Trees Have Tops’ (1967), a book about
McCarthyism; ‘Travels with Myself and Another’(1978), an account of her
travels; and ‘The View from the Ground’ (1988), an impressive collection of her
peacetime journalism.
 In addition to authoring several widely popular books and novels, reporting on
‘The Depression’, ‘World War II’, ‘The Vietnam War’, ‘The Six-Day War’ in Middle
East and the civil wars in Central America were the major highlights of Martha
Gellhorn’s fabulous career.
Awards & Achievements

 Martha Gellhorn achieved a distinctive feat of being the only lady who stepped
onto Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944. She had to impersonate as a stretcher
bearer to make this happen.
 In 1999, The Martha Gellhorn Prize for journalism was posthumously
established in her remembrance.
 She was amongst the five persons who were honoured in the American
Journalists stamp series of 2008. She was the only lady in that group.
 In 2011, Martha Gellhorn was the subject of an episode of the World Media
Rights series ‘Extraordinary Women’.

Personal Life & Legacy

 In 1930, at the age of 22, she met
named Bertrand de Jouvenal.
 Martha Gellhorn first met Ernest
together on and off for four years
Hemmingway’s third wife. While
and fell in love with a French intellectual
Hemingway in 1936. Both of them lived
and then got married in 1940. She was
Ernest Hemmingway disliked Gellhorn’s
 continuous travel across the world, she was not comfortable with the fame
associated with being Ernest Hemmingway’s wife. They got separated in 1945.
 She is believed to have an affair with Major General James M. Gavin of U.S.A
while she was still married to Hemingway.
 After the divorce in 1945, she had romantic liaisons with Laurance Rockefeller,
an American businessman; William Walton, a journalist and David Gurewitsch,
a doctor.
 In 1949, she adopted a child named Sandy from an Italian orphanage
 She got married to T.S. Matthews in 1954 and got divorced in 1963.
 After fighting a long and lone battle with ovarian cancer, Gellhorn committed
suicide in 1998. She was almost blind at that stage of her life.

Trivia

 During the early 1920s, when Martha Gellhorn visited the New York Times
office in search of a job, the bureau chief laughed at her and turned her down.
After getting a job at United Press news service subsequently, she got fired after
she complained of harassment at work-place.

References:
https://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/g/gellhornem/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Gellhorn
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/martha-gellhorn-6583.php