British artist, illustrator, writer, and occultist who created the iconic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck.
Biography
Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951) was a British artist, illustrator, writer, and occultist. She is best known as the creator of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck (1909), which revolutionized tarot imagery by illustrating all 78 cards with full scenes rather than just the Major Arcana.
Smith was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and a close friend of W.B. Yeats. Despite creating the most influential tarot deck in history, she received little recognition or financial compensation during her lifetime.
Created the most widely used tarot deck in the world, revolutionizing tarot imagery with illustrated pips on all 78 cards.