George Orwell

Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy in 1936. Theirs’ was an open marriage and Orwell had a number of affairs with other women during his marriage to Eileen. The couple adopted a son, named Richard Horatio Blair, in 1944. Eileen died in 1945.

He married Sonia Brownell, editor at 'Horizon' literary magazine, on 13 October 1949, three months before his death.

Orwell died of tuberculosis on 21 January 1950, at the age of 46.

George Orwell was born as Eric Arthur Blair on 25 June 1903, in Motihari, India, to Richard Walmesley Blair and Ida Mabel Blair. His father was a British civil servant. Orwell had two sisters: Marjorie and Avril. Majorie was five years elder to him and Avril was five years younger.

When Orwell was one year old, his mother shifted to England along with Majorie and Orwell and settled at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.

Orwell was caught by the writing bug early in his life. He composed his first poem around the age of four and had a poem published in the local newspaper at the age of 11.

He did his early schooling from a convent school in Henley-on-Thames. In 1911, he was sent to a boarding school, St. Cyprian's, in the coastal town of Eastbourne, and spent his next five years there.

He won a scholarship and went to Eton College for further studies. Orwell’s family did not have the means to support his university education, therefore, he joined Indian Imperial Police Force after graduating from Eton

In 1922, Orwell joined the India Imperial Police Force and was posted to Burma. He served there for five years and thereafter resigned and returned to England in order to pursue his passion of writing.

His early career as writer involved lot of hardships and he struggled to make ends meet. His did all sorts of jobs—including that of a dishwasher—in order to eke out a living.

Orwell’s first major work was ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ (1933). It detailed his struggles in the two cities when he trying to make his mark as a writer.

In 1934, he came out with his second novel, ‘Burmese Experiences’. At that time, Burma was a colony of British Empire and the book explored his experiences during his stint in Burma and offered a dark look at British colonialism.

In December 1936, he travelled to Spain and joined a guerilla group fighting against General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

Orwell is known for his two masterpieces: ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. The novels are considered as the two of the famous novels of the 20th century.

His other important works include his non-fiction works: 'The Road to Wigan Pier' (1937), which gives account of his experience of working class life in the north of England, and 'Homage to Catalonia' (1938), a memoir of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.