By this stage his son, Henri Cartan, was making major contributions to mathematics and Elie Cartan was able to build on theorems proved by his son. Henri Cartan said:
Sa pamamagitan ng hakbang na ito ng kanyang anak na lalaki, Henri Cartan, ay paggawa ng malalaking kontribusyon sa matematika at Elie Cartan ay na bumuo sa theorems proved sa pamamagitan ng kanyang anak na lalaki. Henri Cartan said: