George OrwellAuthor of Fiction, Polemical Journalism, Literary Criticism, and

Poetry

The LegendThe Legend Considered the twentieth

century’s best chronicler of English culture

His most famous books, 1984 and Animal Farm, have sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author

Coined the term “Orwellian”, which describes a concept that obstructs the idea of a free society

Early LifeEarly Life Born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25,

1903 in what is now India

Blair’s pen name was George Orwell

Generations of the Blair Family were very wealthy, but Blair described his family as “lower middle class”

His father was a soldier, and his mother took him, and his two sisters, to England when he was a year old

EducationEducation Began working as a day-boy at the

age of five, for a private school, so that he would eventually qualify for a scholarship

Transferred to St. Cyprian’s School, which he hated, and parodied in his later work

Published poems while in school, which earned him a scholarship to Wellington College and Eton College, although he never earned a degree

PolicingPolicing Became a policeman when college

never proved productive

Placed 7th in intelligence within the academy

Was responsible for more than 200,000 people at one time

Promoted to Assistant District Superintendent

Became ill with Dengue Fever, an insanely contagious rash, and never returned to the force

TeachingTeaching After recovering from being ill, and

traveling the world, living in poverty, he moved in with his parents

Blair took a job teaching at a high school, and then transferred to a local college

Wrote articles of the socialist persuasion to make ends meet

Took up the pen name, George Orwell, to prevent embarrassment to his family

SalesmanSalesman Became ill with pneumonia, and

resigned from his teaching position

Became an afternoon salesman for “Booklover’s Corner”

Job provided room and board

Wrote during the day, and partied at night

Left the life of a salesman, and concentrated on writing his own works, which meant he lived in poverty again

Marriage and Thievery Marriage and Thievery Moved to a cottage his aunt owned,

when he could no longer pay his bills

Turned the cottage, which had no modern-day utilities (running water / indoor plumbing), into a village shop and tourist attraction

Married Eileen O’Shaughnessy in 1936

Became ill after being bitten by a poisonous animal, and had most of his possessions stolen

Animal FarmAnimal Farm Became ill with tuberculosis, and after

recovering from TB, became ill with bronchitis

Even though he suffered from chronic bronchitis, meaning it never went away, he was a lifelong chain smoker. In fact, he rolled his own cigarettes.

Was labeled as unfit for any war efforts

His mother died in 1943, and he began working on a political novel, which would become Animal Farm

Struggled with finding a supportive publisher

19451945 Animal Farm was published in 1945,

and gave Orwell fame

He and his wife adopted a son, naming him Richard Horatio in 1945

His wife went to the hospital for a routine hysterectomy, and died during surgery in 1945

Continued to write political articles, and had to hire help to take care of his newly adopted son

Orwell suffered a tubercular hemorrhage

DeathDeath In 1949, Orwell became seriously ill, and was

hospitalized

Started dating Sonia Brownwell right before being hospitalized, and married her on his deathbed

The couple planned to visit the Swiss Alps, but the trip was interrupted by his death, when a main artery burst in his lungs, killing him at 46 (1950)

Orwell was buried with no mention of his pen name, just his birth name

His last request was that no biography be written about him, and it wasn’t until his second wife’s death, that one was published