Jerzy Kosiński (Polish: [ˈjɛʐɨ kɔˈɕij̃skʲi]; June 14, 1933 – May 3, 1991), born Józef Lewinkopf, was a Polish-American novelist and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N., who wrote primarily in English. Born in Poland, he survived World War II and, as a young man, emigrated to the U.S., where he became a citizen. He was known for various novels, among them Being There (1970) and The Painted Bird (1965), which were adapted as films in 1979 and 2019 respectively.