The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-12-01 / 12. szám
December, 1975 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 5 establish various learned societies, which — they hoped — would eventually turn into such national centers of learning and research (e.g. G. Bessenyey in 1779, G. Aranka in 1791, I. Kultsár in 1810, I. Marczibányi in 1815, etc.) Despite the efforts of the above intellectuals and national leaders, however, none of these early learned societies managed to survive for any significant length of time. Thus, the foundation of the long-awaited Hungarian Academy had to wait until 1925, when the great Hungarian patriot and reformer, Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860), managed to launch it on its way. He did this largely with his generous financial support, that amounted to a whole year’s income of that wealthy Hungarian magnate (60,000 golden florins). Széchenyi’s example was soon followed by others, and by 1827 these gifts amounted to about 250,000 florins. As mentioned above, given the social, economic and political conditions of the period of its foundation, the initial goals of the Hungaran Scientific Society (as the newly founded Academy was known for a while) were rather modest. These were basically limited to the study and cultivation of the Magyar language and history, and to the dissemination of learning in that language. These limited goals of the Academy were also reflected in its internal organization, in as much as the majority of its six (later three) “Sections” were entrusted with the study of the humanities and social sciences. The lack of attention to the “hard sciences” was also evident in the unquestioned pre-eminence and leadership of linguistic, literary, historical and legal scholars in the Academy — particularly during the first half century of its existence. And while the situation did change somewhat during the next threequarters of a century, not until the Academy’s total reorganization in 1949 did the humanities and social sciences have to relinquish their pre-eminent position to the natural, physical and applied sciences. This shift became immediately evident in the new inner structure of the Academy, according to which seven of its ten new “Sections” now concentrated on the study of the “hard sciences.” Today in 1975, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences is both the leader and the very center of most scientific and scholarly research in Hungary. From its modest beginnings 150 years ago, it has grown into Count István Széchényi an all-encompassing institution of Hungarian learnig. It contains over fifty of the country’s most significant scientific research institutes (with thousands of scientists and scholars); it controls over sixty learned societies, one hundred and fifty university departments, and over one hundred scientific committees; and it is responsible for the publication of about eighty scientific and scholarly journals, about half of which are published in Western languages (e.g. the noted Acta and Studia series). Moreover, its invited “members” comprise close to two hundred of the country’s top scholars, scientists and intellectuals. These select few enjoy the distinction of being “academicians”, which is the most prestigious rank that the nation can bestow upon its most creative members. Although Hungary is a small country and the Magyars a small nation, their intellectual and scientific traditions are deeply rooted and have produced some enviable results. They have enriched not only the nation, but also the world. This was particularly true after the foundation of the Hungarian Academy 150 years ago, which gave a new sense of direction to Hungarian scholarly and scientific efforts. Some of the results of these efforts are all around us — among others, in the achievements of such internationally renowned scholars, artists and scientists as Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Albert Szent-György, George Békéssy, Denis Gábor, Theodore von Kármán, John von Neumann, Leo Szilárd, Edward Teller, Eugene Wigner and many others.
