Tatartcheff's family was originally from the Swiss Cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel and Fribourg.
Tatartcheff attended a French collège classique in Timmins, then McGill University before leaving for Paris in early 1969, to study for a master's in French literature[REF] at the Sorbonne, where he presented a thesis on the subject of Jules Vallès [REF].