Leopoldina Rodríguez: Hemingway’s Cuban Lover?

An alluring, olive-skinned courtesan with an unusual aversion to harsh words and actions, “Honest Lil,” is a leading character in Islands in the Stream. But scholarship has yet to examine Hemingway’s actual friendship with “Leo” Rodríguez, who clearly inspired this depiction. Interviews with and publications by Leopoldina’s niece Ilse Bulit and analysis of Cuban scholarship including interviews with Hemingway’s Cuban friends such as Enrique Serpa and Fernando Campoamor, reveal that Leopoldina was not only Hemingway’s longtime friend, confidant, and—in all likelihood—lover, but also an important influence on Islands in the Stream and The Old Man and the Sea.