13/12/2017

ICM curiosities | The first letter is unforgettable

This was the invitation letter for the first International Congress of Mathematicians, in Zurich, 1897. It was the starting point of the long history of 28 congresses that have taken place through the last 120 years.

The letter reflects all the hopes that were associated with the idea of reuniting mathematicians from all around the world.

All invitations were personally delivered to 2.000 mathematicians and physicists, in German or French, by representatives of the organizing committee. Important mathematicians of the time signed the invitation letter of the first ICM, such as Luigi Cremona, Felix Klein, Magnus Mittag-Leffler and Henri Poncaré.