3000 Forint 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1825 when István Széchenyi — then a relatively unknown cavalry officer — spontaneously pledged a full year's income from his estates during a session of the Diet at Pozsony. The gesture prompted three other nobles to match it on the spot. That improvised act of patronage launched what became the country's preeminent institution for scientific and literary advancement, eventually housed in its landmark Pest building completed in 1865.