On 17 October 2025, in Rome, at the age of 91, Professor Sofia Corradi – the Italian educator known as “Mamma Erasmus” and one of the driving forces behind the European student mobility programme Erasmus – passed away.
Born in Rome in 1934, Corradi graduated in law and in 1957 received a Fulbright scholarship to study at Columbia University (USA). Upon returning to Italy, she faced the refusal of Italian universities to recognise her American degree – an experience that inspired her lifelong commitment to the idea of mutual academic recognition and free student mobility across Europe.
In 1987, her vision materialised with the official launch of the Erasmus Programme, which to this day has enabled more than 16 million students to study and live in different European countries. Corradi often described the project as “a personal pacifist mission”, born in the context of the Cold War – an initiative meant to bring young people closer together through education, culture, and exchange of experience.
Sofia Corradi remains a symbol of European academic solidarity and a lasting advocate of education without borders.
