Pauline Marie Pfeiffer (July 22, 1895 – October 1, 1951) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, and the second wife of writer

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

.Harris, Peggy (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

) (30 July 2000)
Ernest Hemingway Museum Popular in Quiet Farm Town
''

The Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was T ...

''. Retrieved November 4, 2010

Early life

Pfeiffer was born in

Parkersburg, Iowa Parkersburg is a city in Butler County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,015 in the 2020 census, an increase from 1,889 in 2000. Parkersburg, although not the county seat, has the highest population of all the cities in Butler County. H ...

to Paul, a real estate agent, and Mary Pfeiffer, on July 22, 1895, moving to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in 1901, where she went to school at Visitation Academy of St. Louis. Although her family later moved to

Piggott, Arkansas Piggott is a city in Clay County, Arkansas, United States. It is one of the two county seats of Clay County, along with Corning. It is the northern terminus of the Arkansas segment of the Crowley's Ridge Parkway, a National Scenic Byway. As of t ...

, Pfeiffer stayed in Missouri to study at the

University of Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic commu ...

, graduating in 1918. After working at newspapers in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and New York, Pfeiffer switched to magazines, working for '' Vanity Fair'' and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. A move to Paris for ''Vogue'' led to her meeting Hemingway and his first wife,

Hadley Richardson Elizabeth Hadley Richardson (November 9, 1891 – January 22, 1979) was the first wife of American author Ernest Hemingway. The two married in 1921 after a courtship of less than a year, and moved to Paris within months of being married. In Paris, ...

, in 1926.Kert, Bernice, ''The Hemingway Women: Those Who Loved Him – the Wives and Others'', W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1983.

Marriage to Hemingway

In the spring of 1926,

, the first wife of

, became aware of Hemingway's affair with Pauline,Baker (1972), 43 and in July, Pauline joined the couple for their annual trip to

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. On their return to Paris, Hadley and Hemingway decided to separate, and in November, Hadley formally requested a divorce. They were divorced in January 1927. Hemingway married Pauline in May 1927, and they went to Le Grau-du-Roi on a honeymoon.Meyers (1985), 172 Pauline's family was wealthy and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

; before the marriage, Hemingway converted to Catholicism.Mellow (1992, 294 By the end of the year Pauline, who was pregnant, wanted to move back to America.

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

recommended Key West, and they left Paris in March 1928.Meyers (1985), 204} They had two children, Patrick and Gloria (born Gregory). Hemingway drew upon Pfeiffer's difficult labor with one child as the basis for his character Catherine's death in '' A Farewell to Arms''. Pfeiffer's devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

beliefs led to her support of the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

while Hemingway backed the Republicans. In 1937, on a trip to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Hemingway began an affair with

Martha Gellhorn Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...

. Pfeiffer and he were divorced on November 4, 1940, and he married Gellhorn three weeks later.

Later life and death

Pfeiffer spent the rest of her life in Key West, with frequent visits to California, until her death on October 1, 1951, at age 56. Her death was attributed to an acute state of shock related to her child, then known as Gregory's arrest and a subsequent phone call from Ernest. Gregory, later known as Gloria, had experienced gender identity issues for most of her life,''Miami Herald''
Carol Rabin Miller, "Gender of Hemingway's son at center of feud," September 22, 2003
Retrieved June 27, 2011 had been arrested for entering the women's restroom in a movie theater. Years later, after becoming a medical doctor, Gloria interpreted her mother's autopsy report as indicating that she had died due to a

pheochromocytoma Pheochromocytoma (PHEO or PCC) is a rare tumor of the adrenal medulla composed of chromaffin cells, also known as pheochromocytes. When a tumor composed of the same cells as a pheochromocytoma develops outside the adrenal gland, it is referred t ...

tumor on one of her

adrenal glands The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex whic ...

. Her theory was that the phone call from Ernest had caused the tumor to secrete excessive

adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands an ...

, and then stop, the resultant change in blood pressure causing her mother to go into acute shock that caused her death.

References

Sources

* Baker, Carlos. ''Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story''. Charles Scribner's Sons (1969). New York. * Mellow, James R. ''Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences''. Houghton Mifflin (1992). New York. * Meyers, Jeffrey. ''Hemingway: A Biography''. Macmillan (1985). London.

External links

Hemingway-Pfeiffer timeline
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120216090255/http://www.uapress.com/titles/sp12/hawkins.html Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow: The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Marriage {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeiffer, Pauline 1895 births 1951 deaths Hemingway family Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery People from Parkersburg, Iowa People from Piggott, Arkansas Missouri School of Journalism alumni Catholics from Iowa Catholics from Arkansas American expatriates in France