Hemingway in Madeira
“A couple of famous characters visited Madeira... and most likely never set foot on it!”
The first was Napoleon Bonaparte on his way to exile on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena. Rumour has it that the British Consul at the time, Henry Veitch invited the ex-Emperor to visit the island, very much against the strict orders of his British captors! But that’s another story!
THE IMPORTANCE OF ERNEST
The other is Ernest Hemingway! Hemingway sailed into Madeira in 1954, that much we do know. But there’s very little detail about his visit and it’s unclear if he even got off the ship!
Let’s look a little closer…
Hemingway, the WWI Ambulance driver
WORLD WARS
Ernest Hemingway was a larger-than-life character, a cross between John Wayne and Genghis Khan!
The young Midwestern displayed growing bravado at the age of 18 when, at the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered to drive an ambulance for the Red Cross on the Italian front.
Hemingway in an American Red Cross hospital - 1919
A year later, an Austrian mortar shell exploded near the young volunteer’s ambulance causing more than 200 shrapnel wounds. Despite his significant injuries, the earnest Hemingway dragged an Italian soldier to safety and was awarded the Italian ‘Silver Medal of Bravery’ for his action, one of the first Americans to be so honoured.
After a 6-month layup in an Italian hospital, he was invited by a friend to stay on the island of Madeira to further recover from his wounds. Madeira’s ‘sun & air’ so to speak had been long recognised for their recuperative powers.
But Hemingway declined and returned instead to his parent’s home in Oak Park, Illinois on the northwest corner of Chicago, (a place I know well with one of my best pals living in the neighbourhood). Hi Jon!
Hemingway’s parent’s home in Oak Park, Illinois is now a museum dedicated to the author.
WORLD WAR II
When WWII arrived, Hemingway was in his forties and his novel ‘For Whom The Bells Toll’, based on his Italian experiences was already a huge success, The writer travelled to London in the spring of 1944 as a war correspondent working for the weekly ‘Colliers Magazine’ then on to France.
In typical Hemingway style, he dove straight into the thick of things, flying missions with the RAF, boarding the landing craft to Omaha Beach on D-Day and becoming actively involved with the French Resistance!
“As far as his ‘war correspondents’ duties, he kept those to a minimum!”
He sent back only 5 articles during the entire period, just enough to keep him in Europe. Instead, he actively engaged in the war effort completely against the ‘Geneva Convention' which disallowed civilians to take up arms. Nevertheless, for his efforts, Hemingway was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal, the highest military award available to a civilian.
Hemingway and Col. Charles T. Lanham in Germany 1944.
MADEIRA MAKEOVER
It was in the early 1950s that the writer and his first wife Mary, on their way to Cuba on the Italian battleship Francesco Morosini finally made it to Madeira.
And from there, the story gets a bit vague!
It’s well documented that the ship’s captain and his wife, Mary Hemingway came ashore and visited the Madeirian district of ‘Monte’, especially the Austrian Emperor’s tomb before riding a wicker toboggan back into town, not the type of activity ‘macho man’ Hemingway might have engaged in…., especially in a ‘huffy’ mood!
However, an article appeared in the local Funchal newspaper the very next day claiming that the famous writer had disembarked and spent time with a ‘most fortunate’ journalist!
WORKS OF FICTION
I’ve read through the article translated from Portuguese and it is, to say the least, suspect!
The journalist waxes lyrical about Mr Hemingway’s books, literary style and war experiences which were all well documented. But there’s no discussion ‘at all’ about his actual visit! There was a mention of the journalist’s attempt to interview the writer on the ship only to be told, “Mr Hemingway does not receive gentlemen of the press.”
Ernest and Mary Hemingway on safari in Kenya, Africa, 1953-1954 where they were involved in not just one but two aeroplane crashes before safely arriving in Madeira.
The spurious tale goes on to say that the journalist and a photographer met Mr Hemingway by a pool in Funchal and that he had come down the mountain in ‘one of the native carts’.
Mary Hemingway certainly had that experience and documented it in her memoirs but it seems to me the journalist was taking huge liberties to get a story! For instance, where are the photographer’s images? How come there is no mention of Hemingway’s impressions of the island etc?
One can only assume there’s a high degree of artistic license at work… a work of fiction indeed! It seems journalists needed to fill in column inches - even in those days. And besides that, every day is a slow news day in Madeira…
Long may that last…!
