Jerzy Kosinski 1933 1991

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Jerzy Kosinski(1933 1991)

• The Painted Bird (1965)

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Kosinskis Life and Death

• Born in Lodz, Poland in 1933 (Hitlers Reich
  Enabling Act)
• Spent his childhood and adolescence in Eastern
  Europe
• Father changed family name from Levintopf to
  Kosinski to save their lives

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Kosinskis Life and Death (contd.)

• Lived in Lodz for the first 6 years of his life
• Lived in hiding for the better part of his
  formative years
• Father deceived authorities about the familys
  identity
• Role-playing and play-acting became a major
  trauma for Jerzy (then Jurek)

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Kosinskis Life and Death (contd.)

• Born Jerzy Nitodem Levinkopf this son of
  well-to-do secular, intellectual Jews learned by
  the age of 9 that to live, he must not be himself
  Truth was dangerous. Survival depended on
  play-acting and lies. So he became and expert
  actor and story-teller (Robert Park Sloan)

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Kosinskis Life and Death (contd.)

• Came to the US in 1957
• Became a sort of celebrity
• TV and movie appearances
• Faced plagiarism charges in the 1980s
• Committes suicide in 1991

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