[1] Born into a Kaqchikel Maya family, his father's work as a policeman during the rule of dictator Jorge Ubico enabled him to receive basic education.

On May 15, 1984, while he was driving to work in the Centro Histórico [es] of Guatemala City, a group of armed plainclothes men forced him into an unmarked car.

Nothing was known of his fate until 1999, when his name appeared in Diario Militar [es], a document published in Harper's Magazine containing photographs and information on the capture and execution of 183 people, and in which he was listed as number 135.

[2] Luis de Lión's literary reputation was established with the posthumous publication of his only novel, El tiempo principia en Xibalbá in 1985, in which he relates a Mayan worldview in contemporary language.

La Casa Museo Luis de Lión in San Juan del Obispo preserves the author's work and exhibits his personal effects, including books and notes, as well as maintaining the library that he founded in 1962.