1936–1941
The Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Budapest was opened on October 1, 1936 within the Slavonic philology department of the Budapest University Peter Pazman (today Lorand Eotvos). Its main goal back then was to provide assistance to the students in mastering the Bulgarian language and to contribute to the familiarization with Bulgarian culture and to the mutual exchange of cultural values. The first director until 1941 was the prominent linguist Acad. Janos Melich, and the first Bulgarian lectureship was opened almost immediately after that in the school year 1938/39 at the Debrecen University Istvan Tisza (today Lajos Kossuth), where Mihail Popov worked until 1944. One year later the lectureships in the Budapest universities of Peter Pazman and Nador Joszef started functioning. Dr. Dimo Boikliev taught Bulgarian language, literature and history there five hours a week.

Organizers and participants in the first institute initiatives were the students and the lecturers, primarily the Association of Bulgarian Students in Hungary “Khan Omurtag” (after WWII “Prof. Asen Zlatarov”). A little later the Hungarian-Bulgarian Association established in 1934 joined the activities, its branches in Debrecen and Pecs, the Hungarian Institute of Balkan Studies. They traced out a new line in the functioning of the Institute, namely the organization of mutual exchange of scientific trips and students. To Bulgaria, where Prof. Geza Fecher had been working for years, went the ethnographer Istvan Gyorffy, the Byzantine scholars Jeno Darko and Gyula Moravcik, the archaeologists Ferenc Tompa and Istvan Paulovics, and many others, and for specialization in Hungary went Hristo Vakarelski, Nikola Mavrodinov and Raina Katsarova.

The activity of the institute however was much more diverse. It participated in the organization and the inauguration of the exhibition of the artist Peter Urumov, the first solo Bulgarian exposition in Budapest, in the theatre premieres of “When Lightening Strikes” by P. K. Yavorov in the capital city and of “Golemanov” by Stefan L. Kostov in Pecs, in the publishing of the first anthologies – one of Bulgarian poetry and one of Bulgarian novels. The bilateral need was already pressing for an intergovernmental agreement for coordination of the Bulgaria-Hungary cultural and scientific contacts and cooperation, and in this way of the institute activity.

1941–1944
On February 18, 1941 in Sofia the first Bulgaria-Hungary agreement on cultural cooperation was signed. It entered into force 30 days after the exchange of the ratification documents. Its Article 1 provided for the Bulgarian Institute in Budapest and the Hungarian in Sofia. They were already officially functioning within the frameworks of the two universities in the capital cities. The directors were Peter Miyatev and Jozef Bodei who were also lecturers and taught the language, literature and history of their respective country. The agreement exempted the institutes from any duties and taxes, etc. On the basis of the reciprocity guaranteed in the agreement, the Bulgarian Cultural Institute was granted an apartment in the student’s hostel at 86 Andrasy Blvd. The official opening in the new premises took place on January 31, 1943. The Bulgarian Cultural Institute began to participate in more and more cultural and scientific events as co-organizer.

1944–1947
The first postwar years were not favorable to cultural ties, moreover on September 26, 1944 the Bulgaria-Hungary diplomatic relations were severed and remained so for the next three years. Earlier, in March 1944 Peter Miyatev was recalled. And until 1952 the director’s duties were fulfilled by the eminent Slavist Acad. Istvan Kniezsa.

1947–1952
Bulgaria and Hungary signed their second agreement on cultural cooperation on October 29, 1947. This was the occasion to organize the first week of Bulgarian culture in the Hungarian capital (October 20-30) under the patronage of Hungary’s President. Regarding the activity of the cultural institutes there were no changes. The signing of this agreement could be considered important due to the new political relations. At its constituent session on April 14, 1948 the Bulgaria-Hungary mixed committee on cultural cooperation pointed out: “The hitherto functioning at 86 Andrasy Blvd Bulgarian Cultural Institute… to continue its activities under the direction of a professor commissioned from Bulgaria.”

1952–1970
1952 was a decisive year in the history of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute which – at a new place and with a new director – went beyond the frameworks of the university and became a totally independent centre of Bulgarian culture abroad. It was granted 138 sq m at 7 Andrasy Blvd and the director Lyuben Sechanov (1952-59) started his work alone and contributed to the creation of the institute’s image. The institute was officially opened on September 26, 1852 by the Bulgarian minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Budapest Marko Temnialov, who had recently presented his letters of credence.

At that address the institute would function for the next 18 years and would implement everything listed in the conception “What kind of Bulgarian cultural institute should we establish in Budapest?” of the Bulgarian Art and Culture Committee of July 29, 1949. The one-time functions have in fact remained pretty much the same even today, of course without the political frames from the period before the democratic changes, but updated and renewed. Substantial importance had art. 10 of the Agreement on Bulgarian-Hungarian cultural cooperation signed on August 19, 1965, which was the third such agreement. It stipulated the signing of a separate agreement on the legal status and the activities of the two cultural institutes. That agreement was signed on January 12, 1967 in Budapest. It legitimated the institutes as legal entities thus opening new opportunities for their functioning.

1970–1989
As a result from the long-lived negotiations of the director Stoyan Radev, in November 1965 and later in March 1966 the institute was given new premises in the buildings at 14-16 Andrasy Blvd. built in 1876. After a reconstruction and an enlargement with a mezzanine they were officially opened on January 27, 1970. Director was Nino Nikolov, who later in 1984 would work for the second time as director and would contribute a lot to the development of the bilateral cultural and scientific contacts and cooperation. In the meantime, the old premises at 7 Andrasy Blvd. were also reconstructed. And a shop for arts and crafts goods to the institute was opened there. This commercial activity was further expanded with a separate pavilion and a storeroom and thus from 1974 to 1993 the institute was self-supporting.
Since 1989 to the present day

The political changes brought temporary modifications: the successfully built up contacts and cooperation of the institute in all spheres – in arts, with leading personalities and institutions – decreased, the possibilities for work outside the capital got narrower. Meanwhile in 1993 the institute became insolvent, the rents it had to pay rose, the commercial activity had to be liquidated. More and more the opinion that the institute had to be closed prevailed. In 1994 even interior dismantling was initiated. The rooms looked as though they had been bomb-stricken.

With patient collecting of documents, the improvements made in 1966-70 were successfully proven thus making possible the purchasing of the rooms by the Bulgarian state. On October 3, 1995 Ambassador Veselin Filev and the VI Budapest district mayor Gyorgy Borsany signed the purchase-sale contract. In this way, the institute has ever since been working in its own premises. After the overhauls in 1996-97 the renewed institute was opened on November 18, 1997. And this marked the beginning of a new, up-to-date and successful period.