Publication of “Récoltes et semailles” by Alexander Grothendieck

It is in the form of a set of 2 books of nearly 1000 pages each (in French) that Editions Gallimard has decided to publish the writings of Alexander Grothendieck known as Récoltes et semailles.

Alexander Grothendieck (also known as Alexandre Grothendieck) is considered as one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century, having revisited notably the very foundations of algebraic geometry. Recruited by Léon Motchane at the creation of IHES, he was a permanent professor from 1958 to 1970 and has deeply marked the history of the Institute. During this period, he wrote the Elements of Algebraic Geometry with Jean Dieudonné, also a permanent professor at that time, and he organized the “Séminaire de géométrie algébrique de Grothendieck” which still remains a unique reference today worldwide.

The Institute has supported Gallimard for this publication which has required a meticulous work of retranscription and layout. A 16-page special issue gives unprecedented perspectives on the work with texts, notably, by Olivia Caramello (holder of the Israël Gelfand Chair at IHES since 2020), Laurent Lafforgue (permanent professor at IHES from 2000 to 2021), and Emmanuel Ullmo (director of IHES).

An event to celebrate the publication of this set of books took place at the bookstore “Compagnie” (Paris) on February 4 at 7.00 pm with Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, former director of IHES, as one of the speakers.