“Mother Erasmus”, the Italian teacher who designed the program that benefited millions of students, has died. Sofia Corradi was 91 years old

Sofia Corradi, tenured professor of educational sciences at Roma Tre University and known as “Mother Erasmus”, died in Rome at the age of 91.

Sofia Corradi was the founder of the program that brought and continues to bring thousands of young students across Europe every year. The news was announced by the teacher's family, who remembered her as a woman “with great energy and intellectual and emotional generosity”, writes Euronews, quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

After studying law at “La Sapienza” University in Rome, he obtained a “Master in Comparative Law” from Columbia University in the United States in 1957 on a Fulbright scholarship.

Upon his return to Italy, the university refused to recognize his master's degree obtained abroad and required him to complete the regular course of study.

In an interview with RAI television, Corradi said that she was insulted by administrative staff, who claimed that she had gone to the United States to have fun and not to study.

Having become a scientific adviser to the Association of Rectors of Italian Universities, thanks to her experience abroad, in 1969 she prepared a memorandum that contained the foundations of the Erasmus project. Corradi proposed that a student could apply to complete part of his study program at universities abroad, subject to the prior approval of the Faculty Council.

The proposal was accepted by the Minister of Education, Mario Ferrari Aggradi, who adopted it as the basis for a university reform project in Italy, but due to the early end of the legislative session, it never saw the light of day.

About 10 years later, in 1976, Sofia Corradi's project was approved at European level by a EEC resolution, which encouraged student exchanges between universities in different countries. Thus, Joint Study Programs were born, which allowed the testing of the model designed by the Italian teacher for ten years.

In 1987, at the urging of the student association EGEE, founded by the French politician Franck Bianchieri and supported by the French president François Mitterrand, the first Erasmus program was approved under the leadership of Domenico Lenarduzzi, director of the Culture and Education Directorate of the European Commission in Brussels.

In the same interview for RAI, Sofia Corradi recounted with enthusiasm and emotion the letters she received over the years, thanking students who participated in the European program. “They all use the same expression: 'Erasmus changed my life,'” Corradi said excitedly.

Macron, message in Italian for Sofia Corradi

The programme, named after Erasmus of Rotterdam for its cultural trips across Europe and now called Erasmus+, as it brings together the various EU programs for transnational cooperation and mobility in education, vocational training, youth and sport across Europe, involves over one million people every year. More than 30,000 projects have been activated, and the EU has allocated 26 billion euros for the period 2021-2027.

“The disappearance of Sofia Corradi is incredibly sad news. Mother Erasmus has left us, but her vision will live on in every student who leaves, growing up, bringing with them an extraordinary wealth of experience. Every suitcase, every backpack will carry a part of her vision: knowing others is the best way to build Europe,” wrote the Italian Minister of Higher Education, Anna Maria Bernini.

“Sofia Corradi has left us. She dreamed of a European youth that would meet and be enriched by its differences. Millions of students owe her a piece of life and a horizon. A tribute to Mother Erasmus, whose dream continues to build our Europe,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in Italian in a post on X.

Sofia Corradi let me go.

He had dreamed of a European youth that would meet and enrich its own differences. Millions of students owe them a pezzo di vita e un orizzonte.

Homage to Mamma Erasmus, whose dream continues to build our Europe.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 18, 2025