Martha Ellis Gellhorn, known as Martha Gellhorn, was known to be an American-born novelist, writer, and journalist. She was famous primarily for her journalistic skills and the need to be a foreign reporter made her a world name. She was also known as a 20th century war correspondent and was the best at what she did. He had a keen interest in war stories and made sure to cover each and every war story from around the world. His work as a war journalist lasted around 60 long years. In addition to being a world name for war journalism, she was also famous as the third wife of world famous American novelist Ernest Hemingway. The marriage lasted about five years, but it certainly brought her life to the fore. She had to face a lot of criticism from people when they compared her writings with her husband’s writings. She believed to bring her voice out into the world according to her vision and not copy her husband just because he was a famous novelist known for his beautiful writing.

Childhood and early life

• Martha was born on November 8, 1908 to George Gellhorn and Edna Fischel Gellhorn in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother Edna Fischel Gellhorn was a suffragette and his father George Gellhorn was a gynecologist.

• I had two brothers who had great careers and excelled in everything they did.

• Martha had a rebellious nature and did what she felt was right and these traits flowed through her genes where her mother was also a social activist and believes in letting people enjoy their rights.

• Martha graduated from her John Burroughs School High School in 1926 and enrolled at Bryn Mawr College, but left in mid-1927 to pursue a promising career in Journalism.

• He ensured that his articles were published for the world to see and thus were published in The New York Republic and this continued until 1930.

• She picked up on the various messages the world was conveying to her and finally published her first publication called ‘What Mad Pursuit’ in the year 1934.

• He later came to the United States to find a job with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. During the ‘Great Depression’ in the United States and thus she became the official reporter of the ‘Great Depression’ where the government stored the contents that it captured and were the files of official correspondence.

Career

• She continued to be a war journalist with a rebellious nature. She was hired for ‘Collier’s Weekly’, where she reported on Adolf Hitler, who has recently become famous for his exploits.

• Covered the details and situations of World War II in countries such as Singapore, Burma, Finland, England, and Hong Kong.

• Martha made sure she got to the depth of the war situation and made sure no one caught her red-handed while covering war stories. On June 6, 1944, she was the first woman to arrive in Normandy and also report from the Dachau concentration camp after the camp gained independence from Allied troops.

• She was later used for the ‘Atlantic Monthly’, where she covered the Vietnam War and the troubles between the Arabs and the citizens of Israel during the 1960s and ’70s.

• He soon realized that his body was giving up due to age, since he was almost 70 years old and therefore could not rush to places and countries to cover stories of political conflict.

Major jobs

• In addition to being a fierce journalist, Martha Gellhorn was a novelist and travel writer. He put into words his experiences and the real emotions of the lives of people affected by pain and published acclaimed books entitled ‘A beaten field’ in 1940, ‘The face of war’ in 1959, ‘The most Basses have Tops’ in 1967, ‘Travels with Myself and Another’ in 1978 and finally ‘The view from the Ground’ in 1988.

Awards and Achievements

• Being a world famous war journalist during a time when women were not given much importance caused a change in the lives of several women. Martha Gellhorn became an inspiration to women and years later, in 2007, the United States Postal Service announced a stamp honoring the best journalists of the 20th century. An award was announced in his name, commemorating journalists around the world with an award each year for writing outstanding journalistic content in English, whether for newspapers or for the Internet.

Personal life and legacy

• Martha Gellhorn had several affairs, but found true love when she met Ernest Hemingway. She married him in 1940, but separated in 1945 with a divorce.

• She did not like to be compared to her writing and wanted to be a freelance novelist with a unique way of putting her thoughts down.

• She had a second marriage to former Time magazine editor-in-chief TS Matthews in 1954. She had planned an orderly life with him by moving to London, but then divorced him after about 11 years.

• She had adopted a baby in 1949 but soon had bitter relationships with him as she had other priorities.

• Towards the end of her life, Martha was nearly blind, suffering from ovarian cancer, and was reported to have committed suicide and killed herself by swallowing cyanide.

Trivia

• Martha Gellhorn was considered a woman who was sexually manipulative and did not engage in physical relationships with her partners with her personal consent. It was also described as “conscious”.