Hemingway in a hospital bed after party with Robert Capa

Hemingway in a hospital bed

Ernest Hemingway is treated at a hospital in London after a party with photographer Robert Capa, May 1944. Hemingway had a car accident on his way home.

Capa recalled this story in The Hidden Perspective:

“In May 1944, London began feverishly preparing for a military operation. The city was flooded with people wearing UN uniforms, and whiskey was almost gone from pubs. The only oasis in this desert was a place called Little French Club. The establishment was run by an English intellectual who sympathized with the French. Ernest Hemingway, barely visible for his monstrous brown and gray beard, also visited Little French Club. It was frustrating to see him, but I was very happy to see him again. We met in 1937 in Loyalist Spain. I was then a young photographer without a regular job, and he was a very famous writer. As a proof of my affection and well-being, Ive decided to throw a party.
It was impossible to resist a free drink and a meeting with Mr. Hemingway. Literally everyone gathered in London, and everyone felt it necessary to come to my party. They drank whiskey, champagne and brandy. They also drank Gene.
The guest of honor sat in the corner chatting with my doctor friend about the “benign tumor” or “parasitic sycosis” that made him let go of his beard.
By 4 a.m., the bottles were empty and the guests were gradually leaving. The doctor offered to take Hemingway to a hotel and I went to bed.
At 7 a.m., the phone rang. They called from the hospital. They said something about Hemingway and asked him to come to the intensive care unit. The famous writers 215 pounds were all of the famous writers 215 pounds on the operating table there. His skull was split and his beard was covered in blood. The doctors were going to anesthetize him and start stitching his head. Hemingway politely thanked me for the party and asked me to look after the doctor, who crashed into a water tank on his way to the hotel and was apparently also seriously injured. He also told me to tell his children in the US not to believe the newspapers: their father is not so bad. Hemingway had 48 small stitches and his head looked like new.”

We previously posted an article “How much do you get paid for this?” - “A thousand a month.”