Tchalai Unger

Tchalai Unger was born in Eastern Europe in 1934. At the age of 4 she came to prominence as a child violin prodigy. Moving to France, she became interested in film & the vibrant Paris counterculture. After her divorce, she changed her name from Marie Dermitzel to Tchalaï Unger (roughly Star of Hungary) in homage to her Hungarian Roma ancestors.

Interested to journalism, she worked as a noted film & music critic for a variety of major French media outlets such as Paris Match. A lively & insightful interviewer, she became popular for her revealing interviews with film directors, actors & rock stars such as Dylan.

She also studied psychology & deconstruction, as well as physics. She became friends with Lacan & notable scientific personalities such as Bohm through interviews. Later she translated a book by Bohm.

Turning to the tarot in the early 60s, she wrote several books such as The Tarot: How & Why; Invisible Traces; and Tarot: Game & Government. She created decks such as Tarot of the Shamans. She remains a popular & influential figure in tarot circles outside the English-speaking world. She's especially popular in Latin-America & the EU.

According to her own biography, which appeared on her books, her other other works include: Introduction au Dépoussiérage des Mythes (Introduction to Dusting Off Myths), Les Amants Merveilleux (The Fantastic Lovers), Prières Inconnues (Unknown Prayers), Le Sexe des Rêves (Dream Sex), Le Véritable Tarot Tzigane (The Authentic Gypsy Tarot) & her last book, Gypsy Secrets. This was published in 2002.

She died in Paris in 2005.