Ernest Hemingway’s literary legacy took center stage in Paris as the Hemingway family gathered at the Ritz Paris to celebrate 100 years of The Sun Also Rises.
The intimate gathering brought together members of the Hemingway family, artists, filmmakers, designers and other cultural figures at Bar Hemingway, the iconic space associated with the legendary American author.
The celebration comes ahead of the official centennial of The Sun Also Rises, which marks 100 years since the novel was first published in October 1926.
The Sun Also Rises gets a Paris celebration
Among the guests were fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth, Paris-based socialite Catherine Baba, lingerie designer Fifi Chachnil, filmmaker Michael Winterbottom and musician Westerman.
They were joined by Patrick Hemingway Adams, Hemingway’s great-grandson, and Angela Hemingway Charles, widow of Hemingway’s eldest son, Jack.
The gathering offered a fitting setting for the anniversary. Hemingway had a long connection with the Ritz Paris, making the hotel an important part of his personal and literary history.
The author famously returned to the hotel decades after his Paris years and recovered notebooks that he had left in storage. Those materials later became an important source for A Moveable Feast, his posthumously published memoir about his years in Paris.
Hemingway’s Ritz connection comes full circle
The connection between Hemingway and the Ritz adds another layer to the centennial celebration.
In 1956, Hemingway rediscovered trunks containing notebooks from his years in Paris after they had been stored at the hotel. The discovery helped preserve memories and observations from the period that would eventually contribute to A Moveable Feast.
The Ritz connection also makes the location especially meaningful for a celebration of The Sun Also Rises, a novel deeply connected to Hemingway’s experiences in 1920s Paris and Spain.
The novel follows American and British expatriates navigating relationships, loss and disillusionment in post-World War I Europe. Its settings include Paris and Pamplona, where the characters experience the famous running of the bulls and bullfighting traditions.
Two literary families meet in Paris
The evening also carried a remarkable family connection beyond the Hemingways.
The event brought together the Hemingway family and a family connected to Maxwell Perkins, the influential Scribner editor who worked with Hemingway during the publication of The Sun Also Rises.
Perkins played an important role in shaping the novel for publication. Historical records also document correspondence between Hemingway and Perkins during the book’s development and publication.
A century later, descendants connected to both families gathered in the same city to mark the novel’s enduring place in literary history.
A century of The Sun Also Rises
First published in 1926 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, The Sun Also Rises became Hemingway’s first major novel and helped establish his reputation as one of the defining American writers of the 20th century. The Morgan Library & Museum holds first-edition copies of the novel dating to 1926.
The Hemingway estate is officially marking the centennial on October 22, 2026, a date tied to the novel’s original U.S. publication.
The Ritz Paris gathering offered an early and highly personal celebration of that milestone. With Hemingway’s descendants, cultural figures and literary connections gathered at a place closely linked to the author’s life, the evening brought the story of The Sun Also Rises back to Paris.
Source: Jane Owen Public Relations; Ernest Hemingway Official; The Morgan Library & Museum
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