Sofia Corradi, the Italian educational pioneer who created the Erasmus student exchange programme, has died in Rome aged 91. Her family announced her death on Saturday, describing her as “a woman of great energy and intellectual and emotional generosity.”
Born in Rome in 1934, Corradi studied law at La Sapienza University before earning a Fulbright scholarship to Columbia University in New York. While in the United States, she was inspired by the country’s academic openness and its emphasis on international exchange. On returning to Italy in 1969, she discovered that her American Master’s degree was not recognised — an experience that sparked the idea that would transform European education.
Corradi began advocating for a system that would allow students across Europe to study abroad with full academic recognition. Her vision was rooted not only in academic opportunity but also in fostering cultural understanding and shared European identity. “Cultural, social and academic exchanges among students are the foundation of a united Europe,” she would later say.
The birth of the Erasmus programme
As a scientific consultant to the permanent conference of Italian university rectors, Corradi spent years promoting her proposal across universities and European institutions. Her persistence paid off in 1987 when the Erasmus programme launched — named after the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, a symbol of intellectual exchange and humanism.
Since its inception, more than 16 million students have participated in Erasmus, which is now seen as one of the EU’s greatest achievements. The programme supports cooperation, inclusion and innovation across Europe’s higher education systems, and for many students, represents their first opportunity to live and study in another country.
Corradi became affectionately known as “Mamma Erasmus” for her lifelong dedication to international education. In 2016, President Sergio Mattarella appointed her Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in recognition of her “outstanding” contribution to education.
