Louis Bromfield

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1896, Louis Bromfield became one of the most widely read American novelists of the 1920s and 1930s. He studied journalism, spent time in France during World War I, and drew on his international experiences in fiction that helped build his reputation. His novel Early Autumn won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927.

Bromfield lived for years in France, where he moved in artistic and literary circles, but he eventually returned to Ohio and took on a new public role. At Malabar Farm, he wrote books and essays while promoting practical ideas about soil conservation, mixed farming, and working with the land rather than exhausting it.

That second chapter of his life made him memorable beyond literature. Today he is remembered not only as a successful novelist, but also as an early advocate for sustainable agriculture whose farm and legacy still stand out in Ohio history.