Louise Welch

Gurdjieff International Review

Louise Welch

1905–1999


In the late 1920s, Louise Welch studied with A. R. Orage during his eight years in New York. Later she visited Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau where she met Gurdjieff. Later, when the Ouspenskys came to the US in 1941, she worked with them in New York and Mendham, NJ. After the deaths of both Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, she was among those assembled by Jeanne de Salzmann to become a trustee of the Gurdjieff Foundation. She was married to Dr. William Welch, also a pupil of Gurdjieff and the doctor who attended him during his last illness. Mrs. Welch was also editor-in-chief of the Guide and Index to Gurdjeff’s Beelzebub’s Tales.

William & Louise Welch

Patty Welch Llosa provides a candid glimpse of her parents as well as an account of their roles as leaders of Gurdjieff groups.

Louise Welch — Essence Friend

David Young met Mrs. Welch in 1960 and studied with her until she died forty years later. In preparing this article, he drew on videotapes and an archive of unpublished notes as well as his many meetings with her. “It is clear now that we understood only part of what she said then. We were helped, and felt grateful, but we took in only what our little cups could hold—and they were filled to overflowing. But it was often only much later, when we had more experience, that we could understand what she was giving us. I am still learning from her.”

Louise Welch: A Poem by Martha Heyneman

Martha Heyneman worked with Louise Welch for several decades. Her poem provides a heartfelt eulogy and fitting conclusion to David Young’s tribute.

A. R. Orage: An Introduction by Louise Welch

Louise Welch, author of Orage with Gurdjieff in America (1982) was in Orage’s New York Gurdjieff group and was uniquely qualified to write about him. This thoughtful introduction was written for the compilation, On Love and three essays from the Notebook of A. R. Orage, which she edited. It was privately published in a limited edition of 200 copies in 1969 by the Society for Traditional Studies (Toronto) and is reproduced with the kind permission of the publisher.

Gurdjieff Movements Demonstration

Gurdjieff arrives in New York City in February 1924 and presents a movements demonstration at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

The Struggle To Gather Attention

“It is our work to find a finer attention. This finer attention can come; the machine is made for it.”

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Photo of Louise Welch © 1985 Martha Henrickson
Revision: October 25, 2015