George Orwell

Author:
George Orwell

Date of birth: 25-Jun-1903
Place of birth: Motihari, (then) British India

About the author:
George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), a British writer, journalist, and critic best known for his influential novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. His work is renowned for its sharp critique of totalitarianism, social injustice, and the misuse of political power.

Orwell was born on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, British India, and was raised in England. He attended Eton College but did not go to university, instead joining the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, an experience that later inspired his first novel, Burmese Days (1934). Disillusioned with imperialism and authority, he left the police and pursued writing full-time.

During the 1930s, Orwell lived in poverty to better understand the working class, experiences he recounted in Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) and The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). A staunch anti-fascist, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, an event that deeply influenced his politics and was chronicled in Homage to Catalonia (1938).

Orwell achieved worldwide recognition with Animal Farm (1945), a satirical allegory about the Russian Revolution, and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a dystopian vision of a future dominated by surveillance, propaganda, and authoritarian control. Both novels have had a profound impact on political thought and remain widely studied and referenced today.

In addition to fiction, Orwell was a brilliant essayist and critic, known for works such as “Politics and the English Language”, in which he argued for clarity and honesty in writing, and “Why I Write,” which explored the motivations behind his craft.

Plagued by poor health throughout his life, Orwell died of tuberculosis on January 21, 1950, at the age of 46. Despite his short life, his legacy endures through his powerful insights into politics, language, and the human condition. Today, terms like “Orwellian” are used to describe oppressive regimes and surveillance states, a testament to the lasting relevance of his work.