Zelda Fitzgerald (nee Sayre; July 24, 1900 - March 10, 1948) was an American socialite, novelist, painter and wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband as "the first American Flapper". She and Scott became emblems of the Jazz Age, for which they are still celebrated. The immediate success of Scott's first novel This Side of Paradise (1920) brought them into contact with high society, but their marriage was plagued by wild drinking, infidelity and bitter recriminations.

Zelda first met the future novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in July 1918, when he had volunteered for the army, and was stationed at Camp Sheridan, outside Montgomery. Scott began to call her daily, and came into Montgomery on his free days. He talked of his plans to be famous, and sent her a chapter of a book he was writing. He was so taken by Zelda that he redrafted the character of Rosalind Connage in This Side of Paradise to resemble her. He wrote, "all criticism of Rosalind ends in her beauty," and told Zelda that "the heroine does resemble you in more ways than four." Zelda was more than a mere muse, however--after she showed Scott her personal diary, he used verbatim excerpts from it in his novel. At the conclusion of This Side of Paradise, the soliloquy of the protagonist Amory Blaine in the cemetery, for example, is taken directly from her journal. Gloria Patch, in The Beautiful and the Damned, is also known to be a permutation of the "subjects of statement" that appear in Zelda's letters.  F. Scott Fitzgerald was known to appreciate and take from Zelda's letters, even at one point borrowing her diary while he was writing This Side of Paradise. In 1918, Scott showed her diary to his friend Peevie Parrot who then shared it with George Jean Nathan. There was allegedly discussion between the men of publishing it under the name of "The Diary of a Popular Girl". Zelda's letters stand out for their "spontaneous turn of phrase and lyrical style" and tendency to use dashes, visually similar to the poems by Emily Dickinson, and experimental grammar.  According to Nancy Milford, Scott and Zelda's first encounter was at a country club dance in Montgomery, which Scott fictionalised in his novel, The Great Gatsby, when he describes Jay Gatsby's first encounter with Daisy Buchanan, although he transposed the location in the novel to a train station. Scott was not the only man courting Zelda, and the competition only drove Scott to want her more. In the ledger that he meticulously maintained throughout his life, Scott noted in 1918, on September 7, that he had fallen in love. Ultimately, she would do the same. Her biographer Nancy Milford wrote, "Scott had appealed to something in Zelda which no one before him had perceived: a romantic sense of self-importance which was kindred to his own."  Their courtship was briefly interrupted in October when he was summoned north. He expected to be sent to France, but was instead assigned to Camp Mills, Long Island. While he was there, the Armistice with Germany was signed. He then returned to the base near Montgomery, and by December they were inseparable. Scott would later describe their behavior as "sexual recklessness." On February 14, 1919, he was discharged from the military and went north to establish himself in New York City.  They wrote frequently, and by March 1920, Scott had sent Zelda his mother's ring, and the two had become engaged. Many of Zelda's friends and members of her family were wary of the relationship, as they did not approve of Scott's excessive drinking, and Zelda's Episcopalian family did not like the fact that he was a Catholic.

When did Zelda meet Scott Fitzgerald?
Zelda first met the future novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in July 1918, when he had volunteered for the army,