Ernest Hemingway's 'muse' dies aged 91 Maria Sans met the American writer when she was working in a field hospital as a volunteer nurse tending wounded members of the International Brigades during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. She fell in love with a Swiss volunteer soldier who joined the Republicans fighting against Gen Francisco Franco's fascist forces when she treated him after he was wounded at the front. But their relationship was thwarted with the International Brigades' withdrawal from the conflict and the subsequent onset of the Second World War. Miss Sans is thought to have been the inspiration behind the character of Maria in Hemingway's acclaimed novel, a role played by Ingrid Bergman opposite Gary Cooper in the 1943 Hollywood adaptation of the book. Hemingway who covered the conflict as a reporter depicts Maria as a beautiful selfless and helpful young woman in love with his American protagonist Robert Jordan, who meets a tragic end when he is mortally wounded by tank fire after dynamiting a bridge. After keeping her acquaintance with the writer quiet for most of her life, it emerged that Miss Sans may have been the inspiration for Hemingway's character in 1996, after Catalan researcher Agapito Borras established the link.