Jerzy Kosinski

Jerzy Kosiński (1933–1991) was a Polish-American novelist born in Łódź, Poland, to Jewish parents, who survived the Holocaust with his family under a false identity and later emigrated to the United States in 1957, becoming a citizen in 1965. He achieved literary acclaim with novels such as The Painted Bird (1965), Steps (1968, National Book Award winner), and Being There (1971, adapted into an Oscar-nominated film), and served as president of the American P.E.N. chapter (1973–1975). His works, translated into over 30 languages with sales exceeding 70 million copies, often explored themes of individual survival amid violence and bureaucratic oppression.