George Orwell

About George Orwell

George Orwell (1903-1950), born Eric Arthur Blair, was a seminal English novelist, essayist, and critic whose work profoundly shaped 20th-century political discourse. His historical importance, reflected in his #398 Pantheon ranking, stems primarily from his prescient dystopian novels, *Nineteen Eighty-Four* and *Animal Farm*, which serve as enduring critiques of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and propaganda. His exploration of language control and political doublespeak cemented his legacy as a crucial voice against ideological oppression.

Despite this high historical standing, Orwell experiences significant internet overattention relative to his importance, showing a +5x gap. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued 2.0M annualized views. This level of modern attention is surprisingly comparable to, or even dwarfs, figures of much greater historical weight; for instance, Louis XIV of France, ranked historically at #42, garnered only 221K views. Conversely, Orwell’s current attention is slightly less intense than that given to modern figures like Robert De Niro (#562 importance, 5.7M views).

Interest in Orwell remains robust, as indicated by a steady +6.6% year-over-year growth in pageviews and a slight +1% positive momentum shift between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his warnings continue to resonate strongly with contemporary audiences.