Orwell’s biography – a biography he did not, in the event, get round to writing.
Dr Thomas Jones , C H (1870–1955), described by Crick as ‘Lloyd George’s famous Cabinet Secretary’. He was a prime mover in the establishment of CEMA, the forerunner of the Arts Council. Orwell had written to him about 20 March 1942 regarding the abysmal delay in the issue of ammunition to the Home Guard in a surprise call-out (XIII, p. 236).
Denys King-Farlow (1903–82), a fellow Colleger in Orwell’s Election at Eton. They produced The Election Times and co-edited College Days , nos. 4 and 5. He won scholarships to Cambridge and Princeton and worked for Royal Dutch Shell in Canada. For his reminiscences of Orwell, see Orwell Remembered, pp. 54–60.
Celia Kirwan (1916–2002) was the twin sister of Mamaine Koestler. The sisters both suffered badly from asthma. She and Orwell first met when they travelled together (with Richard) to spend Christmas 1945 with the Koestlers at Bwylch Ocyn near Blaenau Ffestiniog. Orwell proposed marriage to her after Eileen’s death. Although she ‘gently refused him’ they remained close friends. She worked as an editorial assistant for Polemic (which published ‘Politics vs. Literature’, 1946) but when that collapsed moved to Paris to work on Occident, a tri-lingual magazine. When she worked for the Information Research Department, she was, so far as her relationship with Orwell was concerned, far more a close friend than a government official. She visited Orwell at Cranham to ask him to write for the Information Research Department. He did not feel well enough to do so but suggested names of those who might help and also gave a list of those whom he thought could not be trusted. See XX, pp. 318–27 and The Lost Orwell , pp. 140–51.
Arthur Koestler (1905–83), born in Budapest, joined the Communist Party in 1931, leaving in the late 1930s, and spent a year in the USSR. He worked as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War, was captured and condemned to death. He escaped and was interned in France in 1940 and then imprisoned as an alien by the British but later released. Among books describing his experiences are Spanish Testament (1937), Scum of the Earth (1941), and Darkness at Noon (1940), which Orwell reviewed (XII, pp. 357–9). He became a British citizen in 1945. Orwell’s essay, ‘Arthur Koestler’, was published in 1946; see XVI, pp. 391–402. His second wife, Mamaine, was the twin sister of Celia Kirwan). He and his third wife, Cynthia, both committed suicide in 1983 although she was much younger than was Koestler.
George(s) Kopp (1902–1951) was born in Petrograd and was Orwell’s commandant in Spain. They remained friends thereafter. Kopp was a mysterious figure. He lived for a significant part of his life in Belgium and created various fictions about himself. It was certain that he was brave and skilful in war. He seems to have served for the Vichy Secret Service and also for MI5 (his handler being Anthony Blunt). Various claims have been made that he and Eileen had an affair, but Eileen’s letter of New Year’s Day, 1938, explodes that theory. He died in Marseilles. Bert Govaerts has done much to discover the truth of Kopp’s background: see The Lost Orwell, pp. 83–91.
Jennie Lee (1904–88; Baroness Lee of Ashridge, 1970), daughter of a Scottish miner who was chairman of his local ILP branch. She served in the Labour governments of 1964–70 and was appointed as the first Minister of the Arts, making a profound impression in that role. She married Aneurin Bevan in 1934.
Captain Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart (1895–1970) wrote more than thirty books including History of the Second World War (1970). He had been military correspondent to the Daily Telegraph , 1925–35, and to The Times , 1935–39. In 1937 he was personal adviser to the Minister of War. Orwell wrote of him, ‘The two military critics most favoured by the intelligentsia are Captain Liddell Hart
Dr Thomas Jones , C H (1870–1955), described by Crick as ‘Lloyd George’s famous Cabinet Secretary’. He was a prime mover in the establishment of CEMA, the forerunner of the Arts Council. Orwell had written to him about 20 March 1942 regarding the abysmal delay in the issue of ammunition to the Home Guard in a surprise call-out (XIII, p. 236).
Denys King-Farlow (1903–82), a fellow Colleger in Orwell’s Election at Eton. They produced The Election Times and co-edited College Days , nos. 4 and 5. He won scholarships to Cambridge and Princeton and worked for Royal Dutch Shell in Canada. For his reminiscences of Orwell, see Orwell Remembered, pp. 54–60.
Celia Kirwan (1916–2002) was the twin sister of Mamaine Koestler. The sisters both suffered badly from asthma. She and Orwell first met when they travelled together (with Richard) to spend Christmas 1945 with the Koestlers at Bwylch Ocyn near Blaenau Ffestiniog. Orwell proposed marriage to her after Eileen’s death. Although she ‘gently refused him’ they remained close friends. She worked as an editorial assistant for Polemic (which published ‘Politics vs. Literature’, 1946) but when that collapsed moved to Paris to work on Occident, a tri-lingual magazine. When she worked for the Information Research Department, she was, so far as her relationship with Orwell was concerned, far more a close friend than a government official. She visited Orwell at Cranham to ask him to write for the Information Research Department. He did not feel well enough to do so but suggested names of those who might help and also gave a list of those whom he thought could not be trusted. See XX, pp. 318–27 and The Lost Orwell , pp. 140–51.
Arthur Koestler (1905–83), born in Budapest, joined the Communist Party in 1931, leaving in the late 1930s, and spent a year in the USSR. He worked as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War, was captured and condemned to death. He escaped and was interned in France in 1940 and then imprisoned as an alien by the British but later released. Among books describing his experiences are Spanish Testament (1937), Scum of the Earth (1941), and Darkness at Noon (1940), which Orwell reviewed (XII, pp. 357–9). He became a British citizen in 1945. Orwell’s essay, ‘Arthur Koestler’, was published in 1946; see XVI, pp. 391–402. His second wife, Mamaine, was the twin sister of Celia Kirwan). He and his third wife, Cynthia, both committed suicide in 1983 although she was much younger than was Koestler.
George(s) Kopp (1902–1951) was born in Petrograd and was Orwell’s commandant in Spain. They remained friends thereafter. Kopp was a mysterious figure. He lived for a significant part of his life in Belgium and created various fictions about himself. It was certain that he was brave and skilful in war. He seems to have served for the Vichy Secret Service and also for MI5 (his handler being Anthony Blunt). Various claims have been made that he and Eileen had an affair, but Eileen’s letter of New Year’s Day, 1938, explodes that theory. He died in Marseilles. Bert Govaerts has done much to discover the truth of Kopp’s background: see The Lost Orwell, pp. 83–91.
Jennie Lee (1904–88; Baroness Lee of Ashridge, 1970), daughter of a Scottish miner who was chairman of his local ILP branch. She served in the Labour governments of 1964–70 and was appointed as the first Minister of the Arts, making a profound impression in that role. She married Aneurin Bevan in 1934.
Captain Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart (1895–1970) wrote more than thirty books including History of the Second World War (1970). He had been military correspondent to the Daily Telegraph , 1925–35, and to The Times , 1935–39. In 1937 he was personal adviser to the Minister of War. Orwell wrote of him, ‘The two military critics most favoured by the intelligentsia are Captain Liddell Hart
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