Hadley Richardson (June 3, 1891 – July 5, 1979) was an American journalist and the first wife of novelist Ernest Hemingway. She is frequently referenced in biographical works on Hemingway for her role in his early literary career and for being the inspiration for several of his early fictional characters.
Early life and education
Hadley Richardson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to James Richardson, a grain merchant, and his wife, Emily Richardson (née Hadley). She spent part of her childhood in St. Louis before moving with her family to Chicago, where she completed her secondary education. She later attended classes at Chicago's School of Journalism, though she did not obtain a formal degree.
Career and marriage to Ernest Hemingway
In 1917, while working as a typist and occasional journalist in Chicago, Richardson met Ernest Hemingway, then a reporter for The Kansas City Star who was on a reporting assignment for the newspaper. The two married in 1921 after relocating to Paris as part of the expatriate “Lost Generation” community. Their Paris apartment, located at 13 Rue de la Pyramide, became a gathering place for literary figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound.
Richardson contributed to Hemingway’s early work by acting as his typist, editor, and confidante. She is believed to have served as the model for the character “Hadley” in Hemingway’s short story “The Sun Also Rises” (1926) and is thought to have inspired aspects of the character Brett Ashley, although definitive attribution is not documented.
Later life
The couple’s marriage ended in divorce in 1927, following Hemingway’s affair with writer Pauline Pfeiffer. After the divorce, Richardson remained in France for a period before returning to the United States. She later married journalist and writer Paul M. Hersey, with whom she lived in New York and later in Arizona. Richardson worked intermittently as a copy editor and contributed to several publications, though she never achieved the same public profile as her first husband.
Death
Hadley Richardson died on July 5, 1979, in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 88. She is interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
Legacy
Richardson’s life has been examined in numerous biographies of Hemingway, including A Moveable Feast (1964) and Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story by Michael S. Reynolds (1995). She is recognized for her supportive role during Hemingway’s formative literary years and for the cultural milieu of 1920s Paris in which she participated.