Jerzy Kosiński, born Józef Lewinkopf on June 14, 1933, was a Polish Jewish and later Polish-American novelist. He was a two-time president of the American Chapter of P.E.N., who primarily wrote in English. Kosiński is best known for his novels Being There (1971) and the controversial The Painted Bird (1965), both of which were adapted into films in 1979 and 2019, respectively.

Born in Poland, Kosiński survived World War II and emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, where he became a citizen. His experience during the war, living in central Poland under a false identity provided by his father to evade the Holocaust, deeply influenced his writing. The local villagers, including a Roman Catholic priest who issued him a forged baptismal certificate, and individuals such as Marianna Pasiowa, a member of the Polish underground network, played a critical role in his family's survival. This period of his life is vividly depicted in his literary works, providing a poignant insight into the human condition and the complexities of identity.