Dino was born on 23 March 1913 in Istanbul into an art-loving family. He started drawing and painting at a young age influenced by his family. As a child he lived in Geneva, Switzerland and France for several years with his parents, returning to Istanbul in 1925. Dino began his secondary education at the American highschool Robert College of Istanbul, but dropped out to devote himself to painting, drawing and writing. His articles and cartoons were soon being published in newspapers and magazines, and in 1933 he and five other young innovative painters founded the “D Group”, which held several exhibitions of their work. At around the same time, he illustrated Nazım Hikmet’s books of poetry.