Jan Yoors was born to a cultured, liberal family of artists, but at the age of twelve he ran off with a Gypsy tribe and lived with the kumpania on and off for the next ten years. During World War II, Yoors worked with the Allies to help the Gypsies who were being systematically exterminated. He was captured twice and imprisoned until the end of the war.

In 1950 Yoors settled in New York City, where he set up a studio and constructed a 15-foot vertical loom. His wife Marianne and her sister Annebert joined him in 1951; they were to collaborate with Yoors in the weaving of all his work. His work brought him international acclaim.

In the 1960s Yoors deepened his interest in photography. He returned to Europe to reestablish contact with those Gypsies who had survived the Holocaust. The pictures he took on this journey became an exhibition at the National Museum of Science in New York City and now illustrate the paperback edition of "The Gypsies".