The Department of Theoretical Electrical Engineering was founded under the name "Theory of Electricity and Measuring Electrical Engineering" in 1945, when the Faculty of Mechanical and Technological Engineering was established at the Higher Technical Institute, from which the Higher Mechanical-Electrical Engineering Institute (HMEI) - Sofia, today Technical University - Sofia, traces its origins. It was the first electrical engineering department in the institute and in the country.

Prof. Mincho Petrov Zlatev was appointed as its first head. Having graduated in electrical engineering from the Higher Technical Institute in Toulouse - France, he also received the scientific degree of "Doctor of Technical Sciences" from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute - USSR. He was a foreign corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences in Toulouse and an active member of numerous international societies and committees.