Ionian University 1864, up to the Union of the Ionian Islands with the Greek State. Τhe Ionian University was established in 1984 by the Greek government under the Prime Ministership of Andreas Papandreou in recognition of Corfu's contribution to education in Greece as the seat of the first University of Greece, the Ionian Academy, that was established in 1824, forty years before the cession of the Ionian islands to Greece and just three years after Greece's Revolution of 1821. The Prime Ministership thus kept an election promise to the people of Corfu, satisfying their long held demand that a successor university to
Ionian Islands Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ; ) are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e. "the Seven Islands" (, "Heptanēsa" or , "Heptanēsos"; ), but the group includes many smaller islands as well as the seven principal ones. As a distinct historic region they date to the centuries-long Venetian rule, which preserved them from becoming part of the Ottoman Empire, and created a distinct cultural identity with many Italian influences. The Ionian Islands became part of the modern Greek state in 1864. Administratively today they belong