Historians have finally figured out who saved Ernest Hemingway's life during the war

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Ernest Hemingway's life was eventful, full of adventures and exciting events. He went through both wars, and historians were especially intrigued by the story that happened to the future writer in the Alps when Ernest was only 18 years old. Once a shell exploded very close to the future writer, and the fact that he survived, the guy was indebted to another soldier, who was at that moment between Ernest and the shell.

Ernest Hemingway served as a Red Cross driver on the Austro-Italian front. Hemingway volunteered to go to the front, but because of a damaged left eye he was not taken into the ranks of the soldiers. But even in the service in the Red Cross, he had a lot to go through., - Ernest then described his feelings.

On July 8, 1918, Ernest came under mortar fire. He was carrying chocolate and cigarettes for the soldiers on the front lines when the fire reached where he was. Later, 26 fragments were removed from it, although there were more than two hundred wounds themselves. He had to lie in the hospital for a long time, as his kneecap was also shot through - instead of it, the doctors installed an aluminum prosthesis.

But at the moment when this happened, at the front, Ernest continued to do his duty and helped carry out the wounded soldiers. Later, for this feat, he will receive the Italian Silver Medal of Courage. But on that day, he was sure that he did everything he could and what he had to do, and that he owed his life entirely to a soldier who found himself in the line of fire and unwittingly blocked Ernest from the explosion. If Ernest received multiple injuries and he had to spend six months in the hospital, then that soldier was torn to pieces, so that Ernest could not even find out his name.

Last year, two people were American James McGrath Morris, author of books on Hemingway, and Marino Perissinoto, an Italian amateur historian. Together they investigated the events of that day. And in early 2019, their progress report was published in The Telegraph, claiming that they were "very confident" that they had correctly identified that soldier after all.

James and Marino brought up documents on the Italian front of the First World War and found out that 69 soldiers had been killed that July day. Of these, historians selected 18 men who died in the Ernest Hemingway service area. Comparing the records of the deaths of soldiers with a map of the area, it became clear that the list was narrowed down to only three people - the rest died quite far from the place of shelling.

Further research led historians to scrutinize the documents in order to find out exactly where certain units were located on that particular day. And it turned out that two of the three served in the 152nd detachment, which was not on the front line, but three kilometers behind. Of course, there is still a possibility that one of them could, for some reason, be closer to the front, but still, the version looks much more likely that this was the only victim who was in the 69th detachment on the front line.

This soldier's name was Fedele Temperini. He was a private in the 69th Infantry Division. He came to the front from his hometown of Montalcino in Tuscany, and at the time of his death he was only 26 years old. Fedele's death certificate states that he died "from wounds received in battle," and the place of death coincides with where Ernest Hemingway received his wounds.

After the publication of this report, the Italian authorities organized an initiative to add the name of Fedele Temperini to the memorial to the list of soldiers who fought and died on the Piave River.

Hemingway would later describe his experience in his novel Farewell to Arms. It will also include scenes witnessed by the author in a hospital in Milan, where he met his first love Agnes von Kurowski (in the novel, the heroine was named Catherine).

After the war, Ernest Hemingway became a journalist covering military conflicts in China, Spain and Europe during World War II. He has written 10 novels, as many storybooks and several non-fiction books. All this would have been impossible if not for Fedele Temperini, who once accidentally found himself in the line of fire and saved the life of the writer with his life.

In our article "A novel in letters lasting 7 years" we talk about who the last love and secret muse of Ernest Hemingway was.