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It is quite impossible to write about the history of the Institut Mittag-Leffler (IML) without, at the same time, discussing the mathematician who conceived it and after whom it is named.1 In writing his obituary, G. H. Hardy noted that “[t]here have been greater mathematicians during the last fifty years, but no one who has done in his way more for mathematics” [10, p. 160]. And, indeed, even though he produced quite deep results during his active years, Gösta Mittag-Leffler is mostly remembered for his vital role in the mathematical community at the turn of the century and as the founder of Acta Mathematica, which appeared in 1882 for the first time. André Weil aptly called Mittag-Leffler’s new journal his deed of true genius [24, p. 12]. Its success as one of the first truly international journals was partly due to Sweden’s neutrality, making it possible for French and German mathematicians to publish in the same journal roughly a decade after the FrancoPrussian War [2, 5]. But, even more importantly, Acta was a testimony to Mittag-Leffler’s outstanding organisational talent, including his ability to find a number of prominent sponsors, the Swedish King Oscar II among them. And when he married Signe Lindfors the very same year, their romantic honeymoon trip through Europe was surely dampened by the fact that he was constantly meeting with French and German mathematicians in order to secure publications for Acta [2, pp. 6, 8]. Already a decade before, Mittag-Leffler had made important contacts in Berlin and Paris, the two foremost mathematical centres at the time. It was in May 1872, right after he finished his dissertation, that he was awarded the Byzantine Grant, which allowed him to travel to Central Europe, a trip that proved decisive for the rest of his mathematical career [22, pp. 143ff]. In Paris, he got to meet Charles Hermite, from which a friendly relationship developed that lasted until the latter’s death in 1901. An extensive correspondence bears witness to that friendship, which was especially important for Mittag-Leffler in helping him make connections with the French mathematical community and for securing publications for Acta. While the letters from Hermite to Mittag-Leffler were edited and published by Pierre Dugac [6–8], the other side of the exchange still exists in the IML in the form of drafts, waiting for anyone willing to battle with Mittag-Leffler’s difficult handwriting. The Institut Mittag-Leffler and its Archives: A Mathematician and his Legacy