Nineteen Eighty-Four's songwriter's real name was Eric Arthur Blair.
Nineteen Eighty-Four , often published as 1984 , is a dystopian novel published in 1949 by English author George Orwell . Sonia Mary Brownell ( 25 August 1918 -- 11 December 1980 ) , better known as Sonia Orwell , was the second and last wife of writer George Orwell , whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair .