London - Martha Gellhorn, who died on Sunday aged 89, was the world's first woman war reporter who also led a charmed life at the heart of the century's big peacetime events. She was once married to Ernest Hemingway, but resented being remembered only for that link. Gellhorn, who began her career during the Spanish civil war and went on to cover the Vietnam, ArabIsraeli and El Salvador wars, had been suffering from cancer and other ailments.
She lived in the White House as a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt at one time, and while still in her 20s had appeared on the cover of the respected Saturday Review of Books.
As a journalist, Gellhorn covered the D-Day landings during the second World War and the liberation of Dachau concentration camp. She brought a fresh approach to war journalism, writing passionately about the impact of war on the innocent, becoming a role model for journalists. Gellhorn said she had no time for "all this objectivity shit".
Gellhorn was also a prolific novelist and her highly acclaimed works included The Honeyed Peace and The Trouble I've Seen.