Summary of a report published in the Collection of materials of the 26th International Actuarial Congress in Birmingham, 1998 (Volume 2: “Historical Reports”)

The report is an overview of the actuarial profession’s historical development. Firstly, the history of insurance and its impact on the emerging actuarial profession is being examined. The names of some of the first actuaries are listed and the number of members of the profession is being traced over the years. The areas of actuarial work are listed, including life insurance, agricultural risk and fire insurance, accident and health insurance, actuarial assessment of pension schemes, experience tables development, reinsurance premiums calculation, etc. The history of professional actuaries is traced back to the founding of the Bulgarian Actuarial Society in 1924, the second major event in its history being its rebuilding in 1993 with the same name – Bulgarian Actuarial Социетъ. The report also examines the development of actuarial training in Bulgaria and the role of actuarial knowledge acquired from abroad. The importance of educational centers like the schools of commerce and finance in Ruse and Svishtov in the early stages; Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski “and the economic universities in Svishtov and Sofia in the later stages are mentioned. The reportt also deals with the importance of the postgraduate qualification course in actuarial sciences organized by BAS and the Institute of Actuaries of Great Britain.

The report describes the regulation of the actuarial profession in the national insurance and social security legislation. Special attention is paid to actuaries working in the National supervision of the insurance business and the social security system. The contributions made by the Bulgarian actuaries for the development of actuarial science are examined. The influences of some of the European actuarial schools, such as the German, French and English one, are traced. There is also a comprehensive overview of the actuarial publications in Bulgaria, like the role of Ivan Gyuzelev’s early articles and books dating back to 1906 and 1911 and later, the books of Dimitar Kolev from 1925 and those of Prof. Ivan Katsarov from 1938 and 1954 along with more recent publications. Finally, a list of bibliographies including 37 research titles, books, papers, and other written materials is attached.