History

In 1869 the Bulgarian Literary Society was established with participation of prominent Bulgarian national revolutionaries and writers - prof. Marin Drinov, Lyuben Karavelov, Dimitar Tsenovich, Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev, Stefan Stambolov and others.

In 1911 Bulgarian Literary Society (BLS) was renamed to Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) with Acad. Ivan Geshov as a Chairperson who managed it until 1926. From 1926 to 1937 Acad. Prof. Lyubomir Miletich chaired the Academy. In 1937 Acad. Prof. Bogdan Filov was elected as a Chairperson.

In 1940 BAS was transformed into Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Arts (BASA). BASA has new functions – to provide expert opinions on structure and activities of cultural and scientific institutions and to cooperate for implementation of initiatives in the field of higher spiritual culture of Bulgaria.
In 1945 Acad. Dimitar Mihalchev was elected as a Chairperson.

In 1947 the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Georgi Dimitrov, closed down the existing BASA as a "nest of the bourgeois influences and nationalism". Twenty-five members of the Academy were committed to trial at the People's Court and sued for Great-Bulgarian nationalism and chauvinism. Three of them were sentenced to death and were executed – Acad. Bogdan Filov, acad. Boris Yotzov, Acad. Alexander Stanishev. The rest were repressed – dismissed, sent to concentration camps and displaced around the country.