Danilo Kiš was a Yugoslav and Serbian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. He was born as Dániel Kiss on 22 February 1935 in Subotica, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. His father, Eduard Kiš, was a Hungarian Jewish railway inspector, and his mother, Milica Kiš, was from Cetinje, Montenegro.

During the Second World War, Kiš lost his father and several other family members in various Nazi camps. His mother took him and his older sister Danica to Hungary for the duration of the war. After the end of the war, they moved to Cetinje, Montenegro, where Kiš graduated from high school in 1954.

He studied literature at the University of Belgrade, graduating in 1958 as the first student to complete a course in comparative literature. He was a prominent member of the Vidici magazine, where he worked until 1960.

Kiš is best known for his works such as "Hourglass", "A Tomb for Boris Davidovich" and "The Encyclopedia of the Dead".