George Orwell

Personal and early life

education
career
books
family and friends
his death
Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, India, on June 25,
1903. The son of a British civil servant, Orwell spent his first days
in India, where his father was stationed. George Orwell was a
novelist, best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen
Eighty-Four. His mother brought him and his older sister,
Marjorie, to England about a year after his birth and settled in
Henley-on-Thames. His father stayed behind in India and rarely
visited. (His younger sister, Avril, was born in 1908. Orwell didn't
really know his father until he retired from the service in 1912.
And even after that, the pair never formed a strong bond. He
found his father to be dull and conservative.
Orwell started writing at an early age, his first poem was
from when he was four. He later wrote, "I had the lonely
child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations
with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my
literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being
isolated and undervalued."One of his first literary successes
came at 11 when he had a poem published in the local
newspaper.
Orwell was sent to boarding school, like many other boys
in England, In 1911, he went to St. Cyprian's in the coastal
town of Eastbourne, where he got his first taste of England's
class system.
He had a scholarship, and Orwell noticed that the school
treated the wealthier students better than the poorer ones.
He wasn't popular with his peers, and he found comfort in his
difficult situation in books. He read works by Rudyard Kipling
and H.G. Wells, among others. Orwell won scholarships to
Wellington College and Eton College to continue his studies.
His family did not have the money to pay for his university
education. Instead, he joined the India Imperial Police Force
in 1922. After five years in Burma, Orwell resigned from his
post and returned to England. He was intent on making it as a
writer.
After leaving the Indian Imperial Force, Orwell struggled
to get his writing career off the ground and took all sorts of
jobs to make ends meet, including being a dishwasher.
The book provided a brutal look at the lives of the working
poor and those living a transient existence. Not wishing to
embarrass his family, the author published the book under
the pseudonym George Orwell. That's why he was not known
by his real name. Orwell next explored his overseas
experiences in Burmese Days in 1934. Orwell's interest in
political matters grew rapidly after this novel was published.
In December 1936, Orwell traveled to Spain, where he
joined one of the groups fighting against General Francisco
Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was badly injured
during his time with a militia, getting shot in the throat and
arm. For several weeks, he was unable to speak. Orwell and
his wife, Eileen, were indicted on treason charges in Spain.
Fortunately, the charges were brought after the couple had
left the country. For years, Orwell had periods of sickness,
and he was officially diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938. He
spent several months at the Preston Hall Sanatorium trying to
recover, but he would continue to battle with tuberculosis for
the rest of his life. At the time he was initially diagnosed,
there was no effective treatment for the disease.
In 1941, Orwell landed a job with the BBC as a producer. He
developed news commentary and shows for audiences in the
eastern part of the British Empire. Orwell drew such literary
greats as T.S. Eliot and E.M. Forster to appear on his
programs. Orwell found himself acting as a propagandist to
advance the country's national interest, With World War II
raging on. Orwell resigned in 1943, saying “I was wasting my
own time and the public money on doing work that produces
no result. I believe that in the present political situation, the
broadcasting of British propaganda to India is an almost
hopeless task.” Around this time, Orwell became the literary
editor for a socialist newspaper.
Orwell is best known for two novels: Animal Farm and
Nineteen Eighty-Four. Both books, published toward the end
of Orwell’s life, have been turned into films and enjoyed
tremendous popularity over the years.
Animal Farm was an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral setting
featuring two pigs as its main protagonists, it was published
in 1945. The novel brought Orwell great acclaim and financial
rewards.
Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy in June 1936, and
Eileen supported and assisted Orwell in his career. The
couple remained together until her death in 1945. According
to several reports, they had an open marriage, and Orwell had
a number of dalliances. In 1944 the couple adopted a son,
whom they named Richard Horatio Blair, after one of Orwell's
ancestors. Their son was largely raised by Orwell's sister Avril
after Eileen's death. Near the end of his life, Orwell proposed
to editor Sonia Brownell. He married her in October 1949,
only a short time before his death. Brownell inherited
Orwell's estate and made a career out of managing his legacy.
 Orwell died of tuberculosis in a London hospital on
January 21, 1950. Although he was just 46 years old at the
time of his death, his ideas and opinions have lived on
through his work.