Gösta Mittag-Leffler

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Lore & Background

Mittag-Leffler was born in Stockholm, the first son of school teacher John Olof Leffler and Gustava Wilhelmina, née Mittag. At age 20, he added his mother's maiden name to his paternal surname. He entered Uppsala University, completing his PhD in 1872. From 1873 to 1876 he studied abroad in Paris, Berlin, and Göttingen; in Berlin he attended Karl Weierstrass's lectures on elliptic functions, which greatly influenced him. In 1877 he became professor of mathematics at the University of Helsinki, succeeding Lorenz Lindelöf. In 1881 he resigned and on June 11 became the first professor of mathematics at the newly founded University College of Stockholm. In 1882 he married Signe Lindfors, who came from a wealthy Finnish family. That same year he founded Acta Mathematica, securing funding with help from King Oscar and partly from his wife's fortune. On December 12, 1882, King Oscar received the first copy as the first subscriber. Mittag-Leffler built a family house in Djursholm by April 1891, which became a hub for mathematicians. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1883), the Royal Society of London (1896), and about 30 foreign learned societies. He retired in 1911 but continued working on Acta Mathematica. After World War I he lost most of his fortune, and in 1916 turned his Djursholm estate into a national trust, which became the Mittag-Leffler Institute.

Reader's Guide

Mittag-Leffler's significance lies in his dual contributions to mathematics and the advancement of women in science. As founder and long-time editor of Acta Mathematica, he created a premier international journal. His advocacy was instrumental in securing Sofia Kovalevskaya a full professorship at Stockholm University in 1884, making her the first woman worldwide to hold that position. As a member of the Nobel Prize Committee in 1903, he induced the committee to award the Physics prize jointly to Marie and Pierre Curie instead of just Pierre. His Djursholm estate, donated to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, became the Mittag-Leffler Institute, a lasting center for mathematical research. His efforts helped counter the era's tendency to overlook or miscredit women's contributions.

Did You Know?

• Mittag-Leffler added his mother's maiden name 'Mittag' to his surname at age 20 as a tribute to his maternal relatives.
• He spent his honeymoon traveling through Europe persuading mathematicians to contribute to Acta Mathematica.
• He was responsible for inducing the Nobel committee to award the 1903 Physics prize jointly to Marie and Pierre Curie, instead of just Pierre.
• He began nominating Henrietta Swan Leavitt for the Nobel Prize in Physics, but her death in 1921 ended the process.
• A glacier at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, named Mittag-Lefflerbreen, was named in his honour in 1934.