Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, renowned for his concise prose and strong influence on 20th-century literature. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway served as an ambulance driver in World War I, an experience that profoundly shaped his writing. He gained fame with works like The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929), both of which exemplify his minimalist style and themes of stoicism and disillusionment. Hemingway's adventurous life took him from Paris to Key West, Cuba, and Africa, influencing his later works like For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952), the latter of which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway's larger-than-life persona, marked by his love of travel, big-game hunting, and deep-sea fishing, along with his battles with mental illness, culminated in his suicide in 1961.
