Dmitrii Lion was born in 1925 in Kaluga, the hometown of Tsiolkovsky, the father of space flight theory in Russia. His youth fell during the years of the Second World War. In 1958 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Graphic Arts, but joined the Union of Artists only in 1977. Lion’s artistic development cannot be separated from his work in book illustration. His work is inspired by biblical stories, and his compositions are reminiscent of ancient manuscripts. His fascination with the text and its visual symbolism is evident in his artistic creations.
Although Lion led a quiet life, his work was regularly seen at many of most radical exhibitions of graphic art in Russia and often drew the attention of the alternative art community. Original yet canonical, his art tends to create a school of its own. Lion died in Moscow in 1993.