Gyorgy Dalos was born in Budapest in 1943. He studied German History at Moscow Lomonossow University. In 1968 he was arrested and sentenced for ‘subversive activities’ and faced a publication ban. Dalos continued to work as a translator, researcher, and journalist and was involved in the Hungarian Democratic Opposition during the 1970s. From 1995 to 1999 he was the head of the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Berlin and was curator for Hungarian Literature at the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair.

He is the author of nine books and has received numerous awards including the Order of Merit from the Republic of Hungary (2006) and the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding (2010). Translated from Hungarian by Judith Sollosy, The Circumcision is considered one of Dalos’ most important works. He lives in Germany.