UNESCO adds George Orwell archives to Memory of the World

The cultural organization of the world has realized the importance of George Orwell and has honored the great writer by adding his archives to its Memory of the World register.

Memory of the World is a program by UNESCO with the aim of preserving and providing access to documents of value. Just as UNESCO declares some buildings as heritage buildings, this program can similarly honor documents. They have done so with ‘The Endeavour Journal’ by James Cook, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, and the Diary of Anne Frank. Now they have added the ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ author George Orwell’s writings to their Memory of the World International Register.

Orwell’s widow Sonia Orwell had permanently loaned his work to University College London (UCL) in 1960. According to the UCL, the archive contains “manuscript notebooks, diaries, letters and other personal papers, including photographs, belonging to the author”.

The collection features the first jottings of some of the most well-known words and phrases from the Orwell canon, such as ‘Two Minutes Hate’, ‘Newspeak’, and the slogan ‘War is Peace. Ignorance is strength. Freedom is slavery’. It is the largest collection of Orwell’s material, timesofindia.indiatimes.com wrote.

George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, a journalist and a writer whose books ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ are considered classics for their clever political commentary. His adopted son Richard Blair commented, “This prestigious award granted by UNESCO to the Orwell Archives at UCL is a clear indication of the value attached to the works of George Orwell. Not only am I immensely proud of this achievement and what it means personally, but also to those who have put in so much hard work to bring about this singular recognition.”

Orwell’s archive was formally felicitated at the 2018 UNESCO Memory of the World UK Awards ceremony.