What was the name of Hemingway's first wife?
Answer
Hadley Richardson
Answer
Hadley Richardson
Hemingway’s first wife was Hadley Richardson, formally Elizabeth Hadley Richardson. They married in 1921 and moved to Paris soon afterward, where Hemingway began establishing himself as a writer and journalist among the expatriate literary community.
Richardson supported Hemingway during his early career and accompanied him through the years that shaped his first major success. Their son, John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway, was born in 1923 and was nicknamed “Bumby.” Hemingway later dedicated The Sun Also Rises to “Hadley and John Hadley Nicanor.”
Their marriage ended after Hemingway began an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer, who had been a friend of the couple. Richardson and Hemingway divorced in January 1927, and he married Pfeiffer a few months later. The other names in the choices were also connected to Hemingway: Mary Welsh became his fourth wife, Martha Gellhorn his third, and Pauline Pfeiffer his second. Richardson’s life in Paris also inspired later works, including the memoir A Moveable Feast.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026