Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff was born c. 1866 in Alexandropol of a Greek father and an Armenian mother. In his youth he studied science, medicine and the ministry but found that these disciplines could not answer his questions about the essential nature of humanity and our possibilities. He embarked on a search for ancient wisdom that took him to remote regions of the Middle East, Africa, India and Central Asia. He reappeared in Russia c. 1912 with a distinctive and contemporary teaching, rooted in both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. During the Bolshevik Revolution, he found his way to Western Europe with a group of his students. He eventually settled near Paris and established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. He continued to teach in Paris and New York until his death in 1949.

Following his death, a core group of pupils, under the direction of Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann, undertook responsibility for the transmission of the teaching. This group established centers throughout the Western World, one of which is the Gurdjieff Foundation of Pennsylvania.