Martha Gellhorn—American Novelist

Martha Gellhorn was a known war correspondent, journalist, and travel writer back in the mid-90s. She is considered as one of the greatest war journalists of the 20th century. She was an active correspondent from 1934 to 1989. her 60-year career covered the biggest events of the world including the conflicts that have happened in those years. She witnessed the war in Europe, the Spanish Civil War, the carnage of the D-Day beaches, and more. Her work was one of a kind that it became the official documentation for the Great Depression that happened back in the days. She was also known as the only woman who has witnessed the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.

She was also once married to another famous writer, Ernest Hemmingway. She was his third wife but after their ugly divorce, she refused for his name to be mentioned in any interview. She reasoned that she didn’t just want to be a “footnote in someone else’s life” hence, her dislike for the mention of his name to be associated with hers. Aside from her marriage with Ernest, she has also married other high-profile individuals that also ended in divorce. She has one adopted son until her death in 1998. She took her own life while in London after more than 20 bibliographies credited to her name.

Early Life

Martha Ellis Gellhorn was born on November 19, 1908, in St. Louis, Missouri. She came from a family of Jewish descent but also is from a Protestant family. She studied at John Burroughs School and graduated in 1926 before continuing her tertiary studies at Bryn Mawr College. Before she could even finish college, she left her studies and chose to become a journalist. Her first written work appeared in the publication of The New Republic. She then went to Europe in 1930 to work on her foreign correspondence work. She was in France in 1930 where she worked at the United Press in Paris while staying active in the pacifist movement. She wrote the experience in What Mad Pursuit all her experience on the continent. She released the book in 1934.

After her stints in Europe, she went back to the United States and was immediately hired by Harry Hopkins as a field investigator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. She went from state to state in order to cover the Great Depression that happened during this time. She went to Gastonia, North Carolina, to document the effects of the unfortunate event and teamed up with Dorothea Lange, a photographer, and captured the day-to-day lives of the American people, especially those who are homeless and without food. Their reports were taken in as official government files and were usually not open to women of this era. This made her one of the largest contributors to what now is called American history. All her documented reports were used as a reference in the short stories of The Trouble I’ve Seen that was released in 1936.

Family

Martha is the daughter of Doctor George Gellhorn, a gynecologist who was born on November 07, 1870, in Wroclaw, Poland. He immigrated to America in 1900 with his parents Adolph Gellhorn and Rosalie Gellhorn. He died on January 25, 1936, at the age of 65.

Meanwhile, her mother, Edna Fischel Gellhorn, is a suffragist. She was born on December 18, 1878, in St Louis, Missouri. Her father was Doctor Washington Emil Fischel and Martha Fischel who were both involved in the Ethical Culture Society of St. Louis. She studied at the Mary Institute and Bryn Mawr College and graduated in 1900. Since she was always voted as the president of the student body, she was elected as the lifetime president of her class in 1900. She was a big advocate of women’s voting rights. She was an officer of the Equal Suffrage Leagues and took part in activities that relate to this. She also became the first vice president of the National League of Women Votes. She is included in the league’s state and national rolls of honor. Before her death, she was chosen as the Woman of Achievement by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. On September 24, 1970, Edna died at the ripe age of 91.

Martha had three other siblings who are all boys. First was George Gellhorn Jr. who was born on December 24, 1904. He died on September 18, 1968. Next to him is Walter Fischel Gellhorn who was born on September 18, 1906. He was a law scholar and a professor before his death on December 11, 1995. Youngest to their family is Dr. Alfred Gellhorn who was born on June 4, 1913. He was an oncologist before he died on March 24, 2008.