Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He was a famous author whose works included:

• The Old Man and the Sea
• A Farewell to Arms
• The Sun Also Rises
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Hills Like White Elephants
• A Clean, Well-lighted Place

He won a Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. In 1961 he committed suicide, but was allowed a Roman Catholic burial, as they ruled he was not fully responsible for his actions due to a mental decline in the last months of his life.

Hemingway influenced American literature. He helped popularize a style of writing that featured plain language, short sentences, and clean, sparse prose. His writing frequently focused on American expatriates living in Europe or Africa. Leading characters are often very masculinized, somewhat alcoholic, and suffering from mental scars, but they are always in control of themselves. These characters are believed to be based on Hemingway himself.