25th June 1903

George Orwell born in North West Bengal (India). His real name is Eric Arthur Blair. His family is “lower upper-middle class”.

1904

Settles in England with his mother (his father joins them in 1912 when he retires from the Indian Civil Service)

1908 – 1917

Attends primary and junior school. Corporal punishment was common; this may have provoked his resistance to authority.

1914

His first published work, a poem “Awake, young men of England”

1917 – 1921

Attends Eton, one of England’s most prestigious boarding schools, as a scholarship student. Taught French by Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World (1932)

1922 - 1927

Returns to Burma, where he serves in the Indian Imperial Police. Grows to love Burmese people, and to resent imperialism. Begins work as a writer. Works influenced by this period of his live are the essays “A Hanging” (1931) and “Shooting an Elephant” (1936) as well as his first novel Burmese Days.

1928 - 1936

After resigning from I.I.P, returns to Europe. He purposefully chooses a life of poverty. He works as a dishwasher, a tutor and a teacher, lives as a tramp, lives with miners. Through these experiences, Orwell learns about class differences and the life of the common man. He is a supporter of socialism.

1928

Works as a “plongeur” in Paris, before pneumonia forces him to return to England.

1929

In England, changes his name to George Orwell, to avoid embarrassing his family.

1933

“Down and Out in London and Paris” based on his experience of the underworld and life among the poor.

1934, 1935

“Burmese Days” published in America and then in England.

1934

“A Clergyman’s Daughter”, based on his experience as a teacher.

1936

“Keep the Aspidistra Flying”

1936

Marries Eileen O’Shaughnessy, a former student of J.R.R. Tolkien.

1937

“The Road to Wigan Pier”, based on his experience of living with the unemployed.

1937

Fights, with his wife, for the militia against Franco’s nationalist uprising in the Spanish Civil War. Is seriously injured and experiences the negative side of Communism. Returns to England. Writes “Hommage to Catalonia” soon after, an autobiographical account of events.

1939 – 1945

Second World War. Due to ill-health (linked to his injury and later tuberculosis), Orwell cannot join the army. Instead, he joins the Home Army, broadcasts for the Indian Service of the BBC, continues writing, and in 1944 goes abroad as correspondent for The Observer newspaper.

1939

“Coming up for Air”

1943 – 1944

Writes “Animal Farm”, his satire on the Russian Revolution and anti-Stalinist allegory.

1945

His wife dies. “Animal Farm” is published, after the end of the war. (Publishers were not willing to publish it earlier because Stalin was an ally).

1949

Remarries, to Sonia Bronwell. “1984” is published.

21st January 1950

Orwell dies at the age of 46 from tuberculosis.