‘Mother of Erasmus’ Sofia Corradi Passes Away at 91

Sofia Corradi — the visionary behind the Erasmus student exchange program, which has enabled millions of young people to study across Europe — has passed away in Rome at the age of 91.

Known affectionately as the “Mother of Erasmus,” Corradi was a Professor of Education Sciences at Roma Tre University.

In a statement, her family described her as “a woman of inexhaustible energy, intellectual depth, and emotional generosity.”

Corradi’s inspiration for Erasmus came from her own experience: after earning a Fulbright Scholarship to study law at Columbia University in New York, she discovered that her American degree was not recognized in Italy upon her return. Determined to prevent others from facing the same barrier, she developed the idea of a European student exchange system.

Her vision became reality in 1987, when the European Union officially launched the Erasmus program.

According to the Erasmus website, over 16 million students, including many from Turkey, have participated in the program over the past 38 years.

The program, managed by the EU, continues to foster cross-border academic cooperation and cultural understanding among European universities and higher education institutions.

Born in Rome, Corradi also worked with organizations such as the UN Human Rights Committee, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the London School of Economics (LSE) on research projects promoting the right to education.

Source: NTV Avrupa