Sonia Orwell

Sonia Mary Orwell (née Brownell, 25 August 1918 – 11 December 1980) was a British editor and archivist. She was the second wife of Eric Arthur Blair, commonly known by his pen name George Orwell. Born in British India, Brownell's family moved to London, where she was educated at Sacred Heart Convent in Roehampton. In her twenties, she became involved with the founders of the Euston Road School, as model for William Coldstream, Victor Pasmore and Claude Rogers. She met Orwell while working at the literary magazine, Horizon. After the death of his wife, Eileen Blair, when Orwell was dying from tuberculosis, they married in hospital on 13 October 1949. Their marriage lasted for three months until his death. As his sole heir and literary executor, Brownell was protective of his estate for years after his death. She established the George Orwell Archive at University College London in 1960. With Ian Angus, she edited The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell in 1968. Brownell is believed to be the model for Julia, the heroine of Nineteen Eighty-Four.