It was founded in 1899 jointly by Henri Fehr from Geneva and by Charles-Ange Laisant from Paris as co-editors-in-chief.

It is the official organ of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

Since volume 60 (2015) the articles have been published by the European Mathematical Society.

[2] Articles published more than five years ago are freely available online.

In 1942 publication was suspended and resumed with volume 39 covering the years 1942–1950.