Although the Ionian Academy in Corfou ( 1824) and the Military School in Nafplion ( 1828) were both the first institutions of a higher education , the establishment of the University of Athens founded by king Otto in 1837, denoted the beginning of the higher education in Greece.

For many decades the mathematical department was the "poor parent " of the faculty of philosophy, the fourth among these of: theology, medicine and law. Nevertheless the lectures delivered by distinguished professors educated in Europe could compensate this handicap. The first professors of mathematics K. Negris and G. Vouris from the Ecole Polytechnique and the University of Vienna respectively tried to initiate the few students in mathematical science , although the lack of manuals made their task difficult. Later V. Lacon and N. Nicolaides prepared the way for the creation of the first mathematical school founded by I.Hadjidakis and C. Stephanos. Thus at the turn of the 19th century started to take shape the mathematical community by publishing its research in distinguished European journals such as the Comptes Rendus of the Academy of Science in Paris or the journal of Crelle. Moreover the publication of instructive books for three levels of education also contributed to the expansion of mathematical knowledge at the first two levels as well as to introduce in Greece at a third level contemporary theories. In 1904, when the physics-mathematics department acquired its autonomy, the inauguration of seminars organized by N. Hadjidakis , expanded the horizon of the students. As for the International Congresses until 1912 the presence of Cyparissos Stephanos assured the Greek representation at that period. During the fifth International Congress for mathematicians in Cambridge the Greek delegation was composed by the new generation of mathematicians who designated their entry into the international scientific community.