The Ionian Academy ( el, Ιόνιος Ακαδημία) was the first Greek

academic institution Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children ...

established in modern times. It was located in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. It was established by the French during their administration of the island as the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of Corcyre, and became a university during the British administration, through the actions of

Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, (7 February 1766 – 14 October 1827), styled The Honourable Frederick North until 1817, was a British politician and colonial administrator. Early life and education North was a younger son of Prime Mini ...

in 1824. It is also considered the precursor of the Ionian University. It had Philological, Law, and Medical Schools. The first period of existence of its Medical School was from 1824–1828. The second from 1844–1865 (when the Ionian islands united with Greece). Many of the physicians at the Academy had followed the traditional path of studying in Italy, and in particular at the medical School of Bologna. Their scientific and educational activities in establishing the high level of the Medical School influenced the Greek medical science as a whole. In particular, George Therianos (Prof of General and Comparative Anatomy and Experimental Physics) from the island of

Zante Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...

(Zakynthos) met the Earl of Guilford in 1825 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and was given the position of professor of the Academy's Medical School.

Giovanni Carandino Giovanni Carandino, also known as Ioannis Karandinos ( el, Ιωάννης Καραντηνός), and sometimes as Jean Carantino or John Carandino, born in 1784 in Cephalonia and died in Napoli in 1834, was a Greek mathematician, founder of the Gre ...

(Ioannis Karantinos), who had already learnt mathematics with Charles Dupin at the original Ionian Academy established by the French during their occupation of the Septinsular Republic (1807–1824), was sent by Lord Guilford to study at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in Paris, France, in Italy and in England between 1820 and 1823, and became the director of the school of Mathematics at the Academy. The Academy gave Public courses in Sciences, Ethics and humanities, it offered subjects like, Physiology, Botany, political economy and Penal and Civil law.

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. ...

was president of the Academy 1847-1851 and later first governor of Queensland. After the union of the Ionian Islands to the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

in 1864, the Ionian Academy was closed to support the newly established

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. Parts of the staff moved to Athens and also the library was brought there.

Notes

References

*Miller, W., The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

and its Successors: 1801-1927 (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 1966)
History of the Ionian Academy from the Ionian University website
*Pentogalos G.H., the Medical School of Ionian Academy (1824–1828 and 1844–1865). Ph.D. Thesis, Univ.of Thessaloniki, 1980. {{authority control Buildings and structures in Corfu (city) United States of the Ionian Islands Universities in Greece Educational institutions established in 1807 1807 establishments in France 1807 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 19th-century establishments in Greece Educational institutions disestablished in 1814 1814 disestablishments in France 1810s disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire 1814 disestablishments in Europe 19th-century disestablishments in Greece Educational institutions established in 1824 1824 establishments in the British Empire 1824 establishments in Greece Educational institutions disestablished in 1864 1864 disestablishments in the British Empire 1864 disestablishments in Greece Italianate architecture in Greece