1898-1961. US writer. War, bullfighting, and
fishing were used symbolically in his
writings to represent honour, dignity, and
primitivism - prominent themes in his short
stories and novels, which included A Farewell
to Arms 1929, For Whom the Bell Tolls 1940,
and The Old Man and the Sea 1952. His
deceptively simple writing styles attracted
many imitators. He received the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954. He was born in Oak
Park, Illinois, and in his youth developed a
passion for hunting and adventure. He became
a journalist, and was wounded while serving
on a volunteer ambulance crew in Italy in
World War I. His style was influenced by
Gertrude Stein, who also introduced him to
bullfighting, a theme in his first novel The
Sun Also Rises 1926 and the memoir Death in
the Afternoon 1932. A Farewell to Arms deals
with wartime experiences on the Italian
front, and For Whom the Bell Tolls has a
Spanish Civil War setting. He served as war
correspondent both in that conflict and in
Europe during World War II. After a full
life, physical weakness, age, and depression
contributed to his suicide.