site.btaSeptember 30, 1869: Bulgarian Literary Society Established in Braila, Later to Become Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

A hundred and fifty-five years ago today, the Bulgarian Literary Society was founded in Braila, Romania, later to become the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (since 1911). It was the first Bulgarian scientific institution established on a voluntary basis even before the founding of an independent state and almost simultaneously with the establishment of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (1869) and the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870). The three organizations symbolically united the Revival aspirations for education and scientific development, for political freedom and ecclesiastical independence - the main pillars of the unity and well-being of the Bulgarian nation, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences writes of the event.

The Literary Society was set up by Bulgarian immigrants in 1869 in a private house.  On October 28, 1878, it was decided to move the Bulgarian Literary Society from Braila to the new capital of Bulgaria - Sofia. The house in which the Society was founded was demolished and the Church of the Ascension was built there. It came to be known among the local people as "Biserica Bulgariasca". 

In the courtyard of the church is a memorial plaque dedicated to the establishment of the first Bulgarian Literary Society, which later grew into the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The inscription on the memorial plaque reads, "Here stood the house in which in 1869 Bulgarian immigrants laid the groundwork of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences".