Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgarian: Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“) is a public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria.
Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constructed between 1924 and 1934 with the financial support of the brothers Evlogi Georgiev and Hristo Georgiev (whose sculptures are now featured on its façade) and has an area of 18,624 m2 and a total of 324 premises. The university has 16 faculties and three departments, where over 21,000 students receive their education. The current rector is Georgi Valchev.
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History
The university was founded on 1 October 1888—ten years after the liberation of Bulgaria—to serve as Bulgaria's primary institution of higher education.
The university's first iteration was as a year-long "Higher Pedagogical Course" extending the curriculum of an already existing secondary school in Sofia. The course's founders "consciously built the foundations of an institution of higher learning" within their curriculum, drawing upon the subject matter of Austrian and German Universities from which four of them had received their doctorates. Subsisting of seven initial lecturers and forty-three students, the Higher Pedagogical Course aimed to educate elementary school teachers at the Gymnasium to fill national gaps among civil servants in "education and scholarship."
With aid from provisional statutes provided by founder Ivan Shishmanov in January 1889, the initial Higher Pedagogical Course was legally extended into a multi-departmental "Higher School" with three-year study tracks before the end of its first year. As the demand for educators was met, Sofia's Higher School and its staff continued to organize, expand, and refine their efforts across disciplines. And though it would take 15 years for its fully-actualized "vision" to come to fruition, according to historian Marin Pundeff (Bulgarian: Марин Пундев [1]), by the mid 1890's the Higher School was a respected national hub for scholarship with all "the functions and earmarks of a university." Shishmanov became Minister of Education in 1903, and by 1904 he passed a law through the National Assembly which expanded the Higher School's now four-year magistrate program into an officially instituted university. Sofia University's first rector was Bulgarian linguist Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan.
During its first years, Sofia University had three faculties, namely a Faculty of History and Philology (since 1888), a Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (since 1889) and a Faculty of Law (since 1892). History, geography, Slavic philology, philosophy and pedagogics, mathematics and physics, chemistry, natural sciences and law were also taught. The first women (16 in number) were welcomed to the university in 1901 and 25 November (8 December N.S.), the day of St. Kliment of Ohrid, became the university's official holiday the following year.
As Prince Ferdinand opened the National Theatre in 1907, he was booed by Sofia University students, for which the university was closed for six months and all lecturers were fired. Not until a new government with Aleksandar Malinov at the head came into power in January 1908 was the crisis resolved.
Astronomy Observatory
Astronomical Observatory of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" is the first astronomical observatory in Bulgaria and one of the first on the Balkan Peninsula. The Observatory is also the first building constructed for the needs of Sofia University. It was established in 1897 at the initiative of Prof. Marin Bachevarov. It is located in Borisova Gradina, near the "Maria Luisa" swimming pool. The primary purpose of the astronomical observatory is educational, serving the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University.
Faculties and departments
Faculties
Sofia University offers a wide range of degrees in 16 faculties:
Faculty of Biology
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Geology and Geography
Faculty of History
Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics
Faculty of Philosophy
Faculty of Physics
Faculty of Pre-school and Primary School Education
Faculty of Slavic Studies
Faculty of Theology
Faculty of Medicine
Departments
Department of Language Learning
Department for Information and In-service Training of Teachers
Sports Department
Affiliated bodies
Balkan Universities Network
National Centre of Polar Research
Notable alumni
Elisaveta Bagryana, poet
Anthony Bailey, businessman
Pepka Boyadjieva, sociologist
Kiril Bratanov, scientist
Iván Cepeda, politician and senator of Colombia
Ljubomir Chakaloff, mathematician
/ Boris Christoff, opera singer
Raymond Detrez, historian
Philip Dimitrov, politician and lawyer, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria and member of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria
Todor Georgiev, scientist and inventor
Khristo Ivanov, scientist
Rostislaw Kaischew, scientist
Mimoza Konteva, geographer
Ivan Kostov, politician and economist, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria
/ Julia Kristeva, philosopher and writer
Maxim, cleric and head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Georgi Nadjakov, physicist
Ivan Kostov Nikolov, geologist and mineralogist
Ya'akov Nitzani, politician, Knesset member
Georgi Parvanov, former President of Bulgaria
Partner Universities
Europe
Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Dresden, Université de Genève, Université libre de Bruxelles and others.