About+the+Author

Eric Arthur Blair, known as George Orwell, was an English novelist and journalist. He was born on June 25, 1903 and died on January 21, 1950, only living to be 46 years old. He was born in Motihari, Bihar, Bengal Presidency, British India to what he describes as a "lower-upper-middle class" family. In 1905, his mother moved to Henley-on-Thames, a town on the north side of the River Thames in south Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, where he grew up with her and his sister, rarely seeing his father. He was a very intelligent child and loved to debate. He would so with students and teachers, and would usually win, or think he won. He also loved to play practical jokes, including one where he sent a dead rat to the town surveyor for his birthday. In his early working life, Blair did many odd jobs, but he was always a journalist for various newspapers, never leaving the working field to write books full time. Orwell was a heavy smoker, rolling his own cigarettes out of the finest tobacco, which eventually led to his death. Early on the morning of January 21st, an artery in his lungs burst, killing him. He lived a very modest life and death, putting the name Eric Arthur Blair on his tombstone instead of George Orwell.