Iesha Javed

Martha Ellis Gellhorn was a famous American writer who lived during the turbulence of the great depression, deeply troubled by what she saw. During more than four decades as a writer, she put her experiences to paper for the whole world to marvel at her brilliance. A daring travel writer and outstanding journalist, she is often regarded as one of the greatest war correspondents of her century. She raised many an eyebrow when reporting major events of the WWII, since it was considered a taboo for women to take up such a job in those days. Defying the female stereotypes of her time she refused to be defined by her association to men, particularly her novelist husband. Instead, she insisted to be judged on her own merits and seen as an individual in rebellion to the chauvinistic culture she was surrounded by. This zeal lead to most men feeling intimidated and threatened by her success and calibre. As such, all her romantic associations were brief and unconventional and she never attached her existence to the pursuit of a singular person or thing for a very long time. She upheld her pacifistic views and spoke vociferously for the powerless people trapped in conflicts created by the powerful. Her life was spent travelling and seeking the thrill of adventure in war and peace, fearing only boredom. Childhood & Early Life Born in St Louis, Missouri on November 8, 1908 to George Gellhorn, a gynaecologist of German origin and Edna Fischel Gellhorn, a social reformer, she soon took after her mother. She had two brothers Walter and Alfred both of whom became noted academicians in their fields. She attended the John Burroughs school, co-founded by her progressive parents and later enrolled at Bryn Mawr college in 1927. However, finding the atmosphere there utterly boring she decided to pursue journalism. Career Martha Gellhorn’s career as a journalist began as a crime writer at the Albany Times Union. In 1930 the young woman arrived in Paris in hope of finding thrill and adventure. She worked for the United Press Bureau and the experiences culminated in her first novel. After returning to USA to work as a reporter on the economic depression, in 1936 she covered the Spanish Civil War for Collier’s Weekly. Then she turned her attention to Europe in order to cover WWII and in 1944 reported on the D-Day landings in Germany. In 1945 she wrote an excellent piece of journalism in the form of her horrific account of a concentration camp. In 1966 she reported on the war in Vietnam which left her extremely shaken. In 1980’s she reported the Arab-Israeli conflict and invasion of Panama, already 81 years old. Major Works Her first two books ‘What Mad Pursuit’ (1934) and ‘The Trouble I've Seen’ (1936) were inspired by experiences she had as a reporter. While ‘The Face of War’ (1959) is a collection of her war reports, ‘The View From the Ground’ (1988) is a collection of her peace time writings. She was particularly famous for her acclaimed novellas such as ‘The Weather in Africa’ (1988). Her ‘Love Goes to Press: A Comedy in Three Acts’ is a play with a humorous twist written after WWII. In 1978 she wrote the memoir, ‘Travels With Myself And Another’. In 1993 she published her last work ‘The Novellas of Martha Gellhorn’, while ‘Selected Letters of Martha Gellhorn’ were published posthumously in 2006. Awards & Achievements Gellhorn changed the world of wartime reporting and set a very high standard for her successors. She managed to cover stories despite the imminent danger to her life and took up assignments that others shuddered to take up. On account of her outstanding contributions to war time reporting, in 1999 the ‘Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism’ was established. In 2008, she was the only woman among the five journalists honoured in the ‘American Journalists’ stamps of the US Postal Service. In 2012, Philip Kaufman’s film, ‘Hemingway and Gellhorn’ was based on her highly adventurous life. Personal Life & Legacy Born in an affluent and progressive family, the young lady received tremendous support. Her mother’s involvement in the movement for women’s right to vote inspired Martha. Armed with wit, humour and pathos, this woman narrated war like never before. In 1936 her father died and she also happened to meet Earnest Hemingway at a Bar in Florida, they got married in 1940 and covered the Spanish civil war together. After four years of marriage Martha and Hemingway were divorced on account of irreconcilable differences. Gellhorn always insisted that she be known for her own accomplishments than be a ‘footnote’ in someone else’s life. Being an outstanding and highly ambitious woman, Hemingway was intimidated by the fact that she wrote better. While she was in several relationships before and after Hemingway, she never committed herself to anyone of them for too long. She was described as a chain smoker and a heavy drinker. The writer adopted a son from an Italian orphanage but left him in the care of her relatives. Addicted to travelling, Gellhorn lived in several countries such as Cuba, Italy, Mexico and finally UK. She worked in ripe old age and only in her 80’s, she quit reporting. She struggled with ovarian cancer and continued to write articles. Martha Gellhorn only quit writing in 1992 when cataract forced her to give up typing. Finally after a hard fought battle the writer commited suicide on February 15, 1998. In 2001, Carl Rollyson published ‘Beautiful Exile : The Life Of Martha Gellhorn’, presenting the author as an opportunistic manipulator of men living a licentious life. Trivia Martha Gellhorn found married life extremely boring. She was friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. She earned herself the nickname ‘blond peril’.