D. Jayakanthan (24 April 1934 – 8 April 2015), commonly referred to as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, speaker, filmmaker, critic, and activist. He was born in Cuddalore and left school at the age of 9 to move to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. Over a career that spanned six decades, he wrote approximately 40 novels and 200 short stories, along with two autobiographies. In addition to his literary work, he directed two films, and four of his novels were adapted into films by others. Jayakanthan received several literary accolades, including the Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards. He was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2009), India's third-highest civilian award, the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1978), and the Russian government's Order of Friendship (2011).