Plans for the establishment of a Hungarian-language organisation to bring together Hungarian-language scholars of science and literature and to guide the modernisation of the language had been drawn up from the end of the 18th century. In the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire, however, an institution of national character could not count on state support. István Széchenyi was the first to take the initiative: on 3 November, 1825, at the Diet of the Estates of the Realm, convened in Pozsony (today’s Bratislava), the aristocrat and landowner donated his one-year land revenue a year’s income to found a scholarly society to coordinate the cultivation of the Hungarian language. His example was followed by several members of the socio-political elite. Following the example of his father, who had founded the National Museum, István Széchenyi acted out of a sense of duty and vocation in establishing his foundation. With this generous deed, the hussar officer, completely unknown in public life before, gained national recognition overnight.
The Learned Society was founded as an association, but the Parliament soon made it a national institution. It began to function in 1830. Széchenyi was elected vice-president as a public writer. From 1845, the institution’s official name was Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Its emblem, painted by the Austrian Johann Ender, was designed by the founder. The Academy initially focused on language teaching, but soon became the main organising force of Hungarian scientific and literary life.