Among the nurses attending to Hemingway
following his battle injuries was an American named Agnes
von Kurowsky. Before long he was in love with her. More
than six years his senior, Kurowsky kept him at arm's length
for awhile, but eventually she succumbed to his ebullient
charm. Nevertheless, Kurowsky's feelings for Hemingway
were never as deep as his attachment to her, and she broke
off the relationship in a letter not long after he returned
home.
But Hemingway never forgot this romance, and
Kurowsky later became a primary model for the heroine in
his novel of World War I, A Farewell to Arms.
Hemingway's first love, Agnes von Kurowsky 1892-1984
Unidentified photographer / Gelatin silver print, circa 1918
Image courtesy Ernest Hemingway Collection, John F. Kennedy Library,
Boston, Massachusetts