[1] Széchenyi was born in Vienna to Count Ferenc Széchényi and Countess Juliána Festetics de Tolna; he was the youngest of their two daughters and three sons.

He fought with distinction at the battle of Raab (14 June 1809) and on 19 July brought about the subsequent junction of the two Austrian armies by conveying a message across the Danube to General Chasteler at the risk of his life.

Equally memorable was his famous ride, through the enemy's lines on the night of 16–17 October 1813, to convey to Blücher and Bernadotte the wishes of the two emperors that they should participate in the battle of Leipzig on the following day, at a given time and place.

Part of this program was the regulation of the flow of waters of the lower Danube to improve navigation, to open it to commercial shipping and trade from Buda to the Black Sea.

They had three children:[7] Béla Széchenyi became known for his wide travels and explorations in the East Indies, Japan, China, Java, Borneo, western Mongolia, and the frontiers of Tibet.

Széchenyi believed that economic, political and social reforms should proceed slowly and with care, to avoid the potentially disastrous prospect of violent interference from the Habsburg dynasty.

Széchenyi was aware of the spread of Kossuth's ideas in Hungarian society, which he took to overlook the need for a good relationship with the Habsburg dynasty.

In contrast to Széchenyi, Kossuth believed that in the process of social reform it would be impossible to restrain civil society in a passive role.

He warned against attempting to exclude wider social movements from political life, and supported democracy, rejecting the primacy of elites and the government.

[9] Széchenyi was an isolationist politician, while Kossuth saw strong relations and collaboration with international liberal and progressive movements as essential for the success of liberty.

[10] Széchenyi based his economic policy on the laissez-faire principles practiced by the British Empire, while Kossuth supported protective tariffs due to the comparatively weak Hungarian industrial sector.

While Kossuth envisioned the construction of a rapidly industrialized country, Széchenyi wanted to preserve the traditionally strong agricultural sector as the main characteristic of the economy.

In early September 1848, Széchenyi's nervous state brought depression and a breakdown; his doctor ordered him to the private Asylum of Dr. Gustav Görgen in Oberdöbling.

The academy was in official mourning, along with the most prominent persons of the leading political and cultural associations (including counts József Eötvös, János Arany, and Károly Szász).