Why name our Spanish school after Ernest Hemingway?

Our students frequently ask why we have named our language school after American novelist Ernest Hemingway. In a school that offers Spanish language lessons, why use the name of someone who was not even from a Spanish speaking country?

Born and raised in Illinois, Hemingway started to form a strong bond with Spain during his time living in Paris. He spent the summer of 1923 exploring the Spanish culture and writing travel pieces about his time here. It is during this trip that he visited the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, famous for its event, the running of the bulls. During this festival he became fascinated by bullfighting and subsequently returned the next two years. It is his trip from Paris to Pamplona in 1925 that inspired him to write “The Sun Also Rises”, one of his most famous novels. It is also in Spain where he researched his next work “Death in the Afternoon” and published his well-known novel “To Have and Have Not”.

However it was in 1937, when he agreed to report on the Spanish Civil War for the North American Newspaper Alliance, that his bond with Spain became greatest. During this time he became very supportive of the leftist republicans and their battle against fascism. He was in Madrid writing his only play “The Fifth Column” while it was under heavy bombardment from Franco’s forces. He returned to Spain twice in 1938 and was present at the Battle of the Ebro, the last republican stand. His experiences of the war influenced him to write “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, perhaps his most famous and greatest piece of work. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades fighting for a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War.

He frequently visited Bilbao to watch and report on bullfighting at the Plaza de Toros de Vista Alegre. His love of the tradition unsurprisingly drew him towards one of the biggest and most impressive bullrings in Spain.

Therefore, it is the love affair that Hemingway had for this amazing country that persuaded us to name our school after him. While he was not Spanish, Spain was undoubtedly his second home and was the inspiration for many of his great novels that ultimately earned him a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. If you would like to learn more about this fascinating country that Hemingway loved so dearly and also learn its language, then do not hesitate to join us at Instituto Hemingway. We offer morning and afternoon classes designed to help you improve your Spanish in a friendly and relaxed environment. We also have free, cultural activities that our students can enjoy every day. If this appeals to you then please email us at info@institutohemingway.com.

We hope to see you soon!