Waiting Time

On May 8, 1876, Mittag-Leffler was back in his hometown after more than two and a half years abroad. After visiting Anne Charlotte and her husband, he went on to Uppsala, where his mother was still living with Frits. There he also saw his best friend, Johan Hagströmer and his wife Ida, as well as their little son, Gösta. The newly arrived Mittag-Leffler was happy to see everyone again, but he had caught a cold along the way and had to take it easy for a couple of weeks before going to Lennartsnäs to see the baroness and discuss his prospects in Helsingfors with Baron af Ugglas. Without Mittag-Leffler’s knowledge, the baron had written to Lennart Reuterskiöld, who was the secretary of the Swedish legation in St. Petersburg, and asked him to contact the Russian ministerial state secretary on Mittag-Leffler’s behalf. He had also asked Reuterskiöld to find out what had happened with Malmsten’s letter of recommendation. Mittag-Leffler said that if he had known that those opposed to his candidacy would place such weight on the language requirement, he would have spent the month of April learning the basics – the requirements were so minimal that he thought a month would have been sufficient. But he added that then his opponents would have undoubtedly found some other weapon to use against him. But Baron af Ugglas thought Mittag-Leffler could rest easy. He assured him that few things would please him more than having contributed to “obtaining the title of professor for the Doctor.”