Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom Tov Lipmann HaLevi Heller, known as the Tosafot Yom Tov after his work, was born in 1579 in Wallerstein, Bavaria. His father, Rabbi Nathan, died before he was born, and he was raised by his grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Heller. As a youth he studied in Friedberg under Rabbi Yaakov Günzburg and then in Prague under the Maharal, becoming one of his foremost disciples; he also studied under the author of Kli Yakar. Besides his vast mastery of Talmud and the halachic authorities, he studied Kabbalah, philosophy and grammar, and acquired broad knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and the natural sciences.

In 1597, barely eighteen, he was appointed a dayan in Prague. He later served as rabbi of Nikolsburg, Vienna and Prague. His commentary on the Mishnah, Tosafot Yom Tov (1614-1617), became a cornerstone of Mishnah commentary and is printed in almost every edition; he also wrote Maadanei Yom Tov on the Rosh. In 1629, after being denounced, he was imprisoned in Vienna and sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted; he recounted the ordeal in Megillat Eivah.

He finally became chief rabbi of Kraków, the city of the Rema, where he passed away on 6 Elul 5414 (1654) and rests. Visitors are surprised that his grave lies at the edge of the cemetery; tradition says he himself asked to be buried there, and many stories surround that choice.