Ernest Hemingway met his future first wife, Hadley Richardson, in 1920. They were introduced in Chicago in December, shortly after the death of Hadley’s mother.
Hadley had gone to visit her former roommate Kate Smith, whose brother was living with Hemingway. Hemingway was then working as an associate editor for the Cooperative Commonwealth. He quickly became infatuated with her, despite being eight years younger.
Their courtship continued through letters and visits to Chicago and St. Louis. Hadley and Hemingway married on September 3, 1921, in Michigan, less than a year after meeting. They soon moved to Paris, where Hemingway developed his literary career among American expatriate writers.
The couple had one son, John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway, nicknamed “Bumby.” Their marriage ended after Hemingway’s affair with Pauline Pfeiffer; they divorced in 1927. Hadley’s years with Hemingway later became central to his memoir A Moveable Feast, published posthumously in 1964.