At the November 3, 1825, district session of the Diet in Bratislava (the seat of the Hungarian Parliament), Count István Széchenyi offered one year's income of his estate for the purposes of a Learned Society. Széchenyi's example was followed by Ábrahám Vay, Count György Andrássy, and Count György Károlyi, who also made significant contributions to the founding of the society. This was the date the Hungarian Academy of Scieces was established. The building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was built between 1862-1865.
Outstanding scientists, and representatives of all fields of culture, who made their mark in their respective fields, joined the ranks of the academy. A number of them gained international fame, including Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel-Prize-winning biochemist; Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály.
At the end of the 1980s, a reform process began to evolve at the Academy with the initiative for framing a new law on the Academy. According to Act XL of 1994, the Academy is a scholarly public body founded on the principle of self-government, whose main task is the study of science, the publicizing of scientific achievements, and the aid and promotion of research. Its members are the academicians. The number of Hungarian academicians under the age of 70 years cannot exceed 200. The 200 delegates are elected by secret ballot. The general assembly frames its own bylaws, determines its order of procedure and budget and elects its officers. The budget of the Academy is determined by the Hungarian Parliament. The Academy employs several thousands of scientists and science workers, maintains and supervises near to 50 research institutes and other institutions (libraries, archives, information systems, etc.) assisting their work, and extends aid to university research centers.