This article aims at presenting the major developments of modern Bulgarian education during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It relies on statistical and other primary sources, and on secondary materials, and uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. The first part follows the development of the educational movement among Bulgarians, stimulated by the modernizing Tanzimat reforms (1839-1876) of the Ottoman Empire; the second part – tells the story of the state supported education after the establishment of the Bulgarian nation-state in 1878 up until 1944 when the communist came into power. The article pays special attention to the differences in women’s and men’s education and the gradual move towards greater gender equality in education during the second half of the 20th century.