Georg Ivanovitch Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff was probably born in 1866 from Greek-Armenian parentage in what is now the frontier region between Russia and Turkey. While still a young man, a thirst for a special form of knowledge, which he believed still existed somewhere on earth, drove him into the most inaccessible areas of the Orient, on a search that was to last for more than twenty years.
From 1912 on, he became a spiritual teacher in Russia, fled during the Revolution and, after a journey through several countries with his caravanserai of family and pupils, finally settled down in France. In a mansion in Fontainebleau, he founded his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man that, despite a controversial reputation in the press, drew many pupils from America and England. Among the disciplines practised in the Institute were dances, generally referred to as Movements. These Movements were created by Gurdjieff, influenced by the dances and rituals he studied during his travels.
These were presented to the public between December 16 and 25, 1923 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and in the spring of 1924 in several American cities, including a performance on March 3, 1924 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The music for them was created by Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann. De Hartmann made orchestral arrangements especially for these public presentations.


(His name is sometimes also spelled:
Georgiades, Gurdjief, Grudjief, Gurdgiev, Grudief, Gurdjew, Gurdijef, Grudjiev, Gurdjiefff, Gurdijef, Grudiev,Gurdev, Grudijeff, Grudjieff, Gurdijeff, Gurdjef, Gudiev, Gudjieff, Gudief, Gurdief, Gurjef, Dorjieff)