London School of Economics
The London School of Economics was founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, initially funded by a bequest of £20,000 from the estate of Henry Hunt Hutchinson. Hutchinson, a lawyer and member of the Fabian Society, left the money in trust, to be put "towards advancing its [The Fabian Society's] objects in any way they [the trustees] deem advisable". The five trustees were Sidney Webb, Edward Pease, Constance Hutchinson, William de Mattos and William Clark.
School of Economic Science
Founder Leon MacLaren was influenced by the early-20th-century esotericist George Gurdjieff, praised as a charismatic intellectual who brought greater insight to Western thought, and rebuked as an egomaniacal charlatan who worked followers to exhaustion to break down personality. MacLaren joined a group formed by followers of P.D. Ouspensky, a former student of Gurdjieff, and brought what he learned into SES. MacLaren also studied the book "The Realm of Art" (1946), introduced its ideas to the SES and invited the author, Peter Goffin, to give lectures.