G. I. Gurdjieff

Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 13, 1872? - October 29, 1949), was a Greek-Armenian mystic and 'teacher of dancing'. His teaching is about becoming more aware of ourselves in our daily lives through the development of one's awareness.

Biography

Gurdjieff was born in Alexandropol, Armenia (now Gyumri, Armenia), traveled to many parts of the world (such as Central Asia, Egypt, Rome) before returning to Russia and teaching in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1913.

Related Topics:
Alexandropol, Armenia - Gyumri - Armenia - Russia - Moscow - St. Petersburg - 1913

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In the midst of revolutionary upheaval in Russia he left Petrograd (St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd on September 1, 1914) in 1917 to return to his family home in Alexandropol. During the Bolshevik Revolution he set up temporary study communities in Essentuki in the Caucasus, then Tuapse, Maikop, Sochi and Poti, all on the Black Sea coast of Southern Russia where he worked intensively with many of his Russian pupils.

Related Topics:
1914 - 1917 - Bolshevik Revolution - Essentuki - Caucasus - Tuapse - Maikop - Sochi - Poti - Black Sea

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In mid-January 1919 he and his closest pupils moved to Tbilisi. In late May 1920 when political conditions in Georgia deteriorated, they walked by foot to Batumi on the Black Sea coast, and then Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). There Gurdjieff rented an apartment on Koumbaradji Street in Péra and later at 13 Abdullatif Yemeneci Sokak near the Galata Tower. The apartment is near the tekke (monastery) of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis (founded by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi) where Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Thomas de Hartmann experienced the sema ceremony of The Whirling Dervishes. In Constantinople Gurdjieff also met John G. Bennett.

Related Topics:
1919 - Tbilisi - 1920 - Georgia - Constantinople - Istanbul - Galata Tower - Mevlevi - Sufi - Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi - Ouspensky - Thomas de Hartmann - Sema - The Whirling Dervishes - John G. Bennett

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In August 1921 Gurdjieff traveled around western Europe, lecturing and giving demonstrations of his work in various cities such as Berlin and London. In October 1922, he established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man south of Paris at the Prieuré des Basses Loges in Fontainebleau-Avon near the famous Château de Fontainebleau.

Related Topics:
August - 1921 - Berlin - London - October - 1922 - Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man - Paris - Fontainebleau-Avon - Château de Fontainebleau

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In 1924 he nearly died in a car crash. After he recovered, he began writing All and Everything originally written by him in Russian and Armenian. He stopped writing in 1935 having completed the first two parts of the trilogy and only having started on the Third Series which had been published under the title Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'.

Related Topics:
1924 - All and Everything - 1935 - Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'

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In Paris, Gurdjieff lived at 6 Rue des Colonels Rénard in Vichy France where he continued to teach throughout World War II.

Related Topics:
Vichy France - World War II

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Gurdjieff died on October 29, 1949 at the American Hospital in Neuilly, France. His funeral was held at the St. Alexandre Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral at 12 Rue Daru, Paris. He is buried in the cemetery at Fontainebleau-Avon.

Related Topics:
1949 - Neuilly, France

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Timelines, facts and whereabouts of Gurdjieff's early biography before he appeared in Moscow in 1913 are found in his text Meetings with Remarkable Men.

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