Budapest, University of

Budapest, University of 

(full name, Loránd Eötvös University of Budapest), the largest institution of higher learning in Hungary. It was founded by Archbishop Péter Pázmány in 1635 as an ecclesiastical university in the city of Trnava, based on the Jesuit collegium that had been in existence since 1561. It became a secular educational institution in 1773. In 1777 the university was transferred to Buda, and in 1784, to Pest.

The University of Budapest developed greatly after the establishment of the socialist system in Hungary. In 1948 the department of natural and mathematical sciences was organized, and in 1950 the department of Catholic theology was separated from the university. A number of scientific institutes have been established under the university. Since 1949 the University of Budapest has borne the name of the prominent Hungarian physicist L. Eötvös (1848-1919), who studied and taught there.

During the 1969-70 academic year, there were three departments at the University of Budapest: political science and law, natural and mathematical sciences, and humanities. There were about 8,000 students and over 800 instructors. The university has a botanical garden and an experimental biology station. The university library (founded 1635) has over 1.2 million volumes (1969).