The Ionian University is a university located in the city of Corfu, Greece. It 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. Andreas Papandreou thus kept an election promise to the people of Corfu, satisfying their long held demand that a successor University to the Ionian Academy be built. On 21 May 1985, Andreas Papandreou, then prime minister of Greece, announced in a speech at City-Hall square in Corfu city the founding of the Ionian University. The Ionian university was created pursuant to presidential order 83/84 ΦΕΚ 31 Α/20-3-84 along with the Aegean University and the University of Thessaly. The university opened its doors to students in 1985.