Ernest Hemingway's humidor

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on the 21st of July 1899 in Oak Park Illinois(USA) and died on the the 2nd of July 1961 in Ketchum (USA, Idaho); he lived and wrote in the city of Havana between 1939 and 1960. The author was named « »Papa » by the Cubans, as he became a local legend for the Island nation where he wrote several novels like « The Old Man and The Sea, and For Whom The Bell Tolls »

He first traveled to Cuba in 1928 from France by steamship. After a quick stop in Havana, Hemingway was charmed by the cities bustle. He found Cuba, stimulating both mentally and physically which stimulated his creative energy. He said Cuba was full of life and upon his return from the Spanish Civil War, he settled at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in the heart of Havana Vieja. It was from his hotel room 511 that he wrote: « For Whom The Bell Tolls ».

In April of 1939, he moved to a rented villa «La Vigia » which he bought a year later, finally, in 1943, he decided to live with his fourth wife, Mary Welsh. « La Vigia » became the authors home port where he lived for 22 years until 1960 when he returned to the United States, a departure that was premature due to the Cuban Missile Crises.
On the 14th of February 1949, a Cuban journalist offered him this humidor to thank him for his presence and lasting influence on the country during all his years in Cuba.
On the 15th of May 2010, Cuba celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting between Fidel Castro and Ernest Hemingway who dedicated his Nobel Prize for Literature to the Cuban People.

"After so long in this country I consider myself a Cuban," said Hemingway. "I never read something as wonderful as" The Old Man and the Sea, "said Castro, who met and shook hands on May 15, 1960.

In his honor, The Marina Hemingway in Havana was given his name to mark his meeting with Castro 50 years ago during an International Fishing Tournament.
On July 25 1960, the writer left his villa in Havana to permanently live in New York (USA). He committed suicide a year later without ever returning to the Island.
Now on display at House of Grauer « Art and Culture »