Jeanne de Salzmann was born in 1889 in Reims, France and raised in Geneva, Switzerland. She married Alexandre de Salzmann, a well-known Russian painter, in 1912, who lived in Tiflis in the Caucasus mountain region of southern Russia. There she met Gurdjieff in 1919, became committed to his work, and remained close to him until his death in Paris thirty years later.
Before his death, Gurdjieff charged Mme. de Salzmann to live to be “over a hundred” in order to establish his teaching. He left all his rights, with respect to his writings and dance exercises called the Movements, to her.

Ravi Ravindra, in his book Heart Without Measure, writes, “…she fulfilled her obligations with an extraordinary intelligence and force until her death in 1990 at the age of one hundred and one. She was responsible for the publication of the books by Gurdjieff, for the production of several films of the Movements, and of the film, Meetings with Remarkable Men directed by Peter Brook. She guided the establishment of the Gurdjieff Foundations in Paris, London and New York. Her main contribution, however, was the bringing of many pupils to a new level of understanding.”
He goes on to say, “There was something so entirely sane, normal and lovable about Madame de Salzmann. She was overflowing with love, but there was nothing sentimental in this. She was entirely remarkable. She exuded immense force, and really came alive when she was working. Madame de Dampierre said, “Madame de Salzmann was the one real disciple Gurdjieff had. Maybe all his work was directed only for her.” …It was not easy to be in Madame de Salzmann’s presence. With her more than anywhere else, I often felt my nothingness, but I never felt diminished. On the contrary, she always evoked inspiration and hope.”

(For a more detailed biography of Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, please refer to the book The Reality of Being   pgs. 297- 299)