An American nurse who inspired Ernest Hemingway's novel "A Farewell to Arms" with her romance with the author during World War I. She is a symbol of love and loss in literature.
Agnes von Kurowsky is best known for inspiring the character Catherine Barkley in Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms, one of the most iconic literary works of the 20th century. Her brief but intense romance with the young Hemingway during World War I would have a lasting impact on his writing and literary legacy.
Agnes von Kurowsky Stanfield was born on January 5, 1892, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Paul von Kurowsky and Agnes Holabird. Her family would move frequently during her childhood, but she considered Washington, D.C. her home. She attended the Fairmont Seminary and later trained for the Washington Public Library, where she got her first job as a cataloger in 1910.
In 1918, von Kurowsky volunteered with the American Red Cross and was stationed in Milan, Italy, where she worked as a nurse in a hospital. It was here that she met Ernest Hemingway, a 19-year-old ambulance driver who had been injured in combat. Von Kurowsky's compassion and kindness towards the wounded Hemingway sparked a deep connection between the two, and they soon fell in love. By the time Hemingway was discharged and returned to the United States in January 1919, they had planned to marry within a few months.
However, their love story was not meant to be. In a letter dated March 7, 1919, von Kurowsky wrote to Hemingway, informing him that she had become engaged to an Italian officer. The news devastated Hemingway, and they never met again. This brief but intense romance would have a lasting impact on Hemingway's writing, influencing his work for years to come.
Von Kurowsky's character inspired not only Catherine Barkley in A Farewell to Arms but also appeared in Hemingway's short stories "A Very Short Story" (1924) and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1936). Hemingway's son, Jack, later described the loss of von Kurowsky as the "great tragedy" of his father's early life.
The story of von Kurowsky and Hemingway was immortalized in the 1996 film In Love and War, where von Kurowsky was portrayed by Sandra Bullock. The film brought von Kurowsky's fascinating story to a wider audience, cementing her place in literary history.
After returning to the United States, von Kurowsky married William Stanfield and led a quiet life, away from the public eye. She passed away on November 25, 1984, leaving behind a legacy as the inspiration behind one of the most iconic characters in 20th-century literature.
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