Georges Kopp

Georges Kopp, (St Petersburg, Russia 1902 - Marseilles, France 15 July 1951) was a Belgian engineer who volunteered to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, rising to become commander of the 3rd Regiment, Lenin Division, a militia unit belonging to the POUM which saw active service on the Aragon front, later incorporated into the regular army as the "29th Division" of the Republican government's Popular Army. Kopp rose to become captain of the general staff of the International Brigades.

He is mentioned in George Orwell's autobiographical account of the Civil War, Homage to Catalonia (1938), and towards the end of the book, when Orwell describes the Barcelona May Days. In his account, Orwell testifies to Kopp's personal bravery in the Barcelona episode in single-handedly preventing further bloodshed. The subsequent outlawing of the POUM (16 June 1937) resulted in its members being arrested and thrown into jail, and Orwell refers to his last-minute, and ineffectual, attempt to get Kopp released from prison. Kopp was finally released after 18 months after having been interrogated by NKVD agents and in 1939 managed to reach England, where he was nursed by Orwell's brother-in-law (Eileen O'Shaughnessy's brother), and his wife, Gwen.

After his release from prison Kopp stayed for a while in England, but returned to France in September 1939. At the outbreak of the world war he joined the French Foreign Legion and fought in the Battle of France in May-June 1940. He was severely wounded and made prisoner, but escaped from a military hospital. Thereafter he joined the Foreign Legion headquarters in Algeria. But because of his frail health, he was allowed to leave the Legion. He set out to work as an engineer in Marseilles, in Vichy-France. He used his work as a cover to work for British Naval Intelligence. When his spy-ring was discovered, he was flown out of France by the British.

MI5 recognized the value of his work and helped him settle in England. His case officer was Anthony Blunt. Previously married to Germaine Warnotte, in 1944 he married Gwen O'Shaughnessy's sister, Doreen Hunton, and farmed in Scotland.

Kopp kept corresponding with Orwell for quite a while. He even sent him letters from France during the war. The friendship cooled in the late 1940s. When MI5 asked Orwell what kind of man Kopp was he told them he was an "unpolitical" man. A loyal person, driven by honest anti-Nazi-feelings, but also an adventurer.

Georges Kopp died in 1951 from complications caused by his war wounds.

Orwell's description of Kopp's background has been questioned. According to this source, Kopp had invented most of his own past. Although personal records show that Kopp understood what was at stake in Spain, he privately also admitted simply being on the run from a broken marriage. He had an ex-wife and five young children when he went to Spain.

One of Orwell's biographers, Jeffrey Meyers, suggested in his Orwell. Wintry Conscience of a Generation (2000), that Georges Kopp was Orwell's main inspiration when he created the character of O'Brien in 1984.

References

Marc Wildemeersch, De man die Belg wilde worden. Georges Kopp, commandant van George Orwell. Haarlem, In de Knipscheer, 2010