Sofia Corradi | |
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| Born | Sofia Corradi (1934-09-05)5 September 1934 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 17 October 2025(2025-10-17) (aged 91) Rome, Italy |
| Other names | Mother Erasmus, Mamma Erasmus |
| Occupation | Pedagogist |
| Known for | Instigator of theErasmus Programme |
Sofia Corradi (5 September 1934 – 17 October 2025) was an Italian pedagogist. She was born in Rome and studied law, becoming a researcher in the field of theright to education as a human right. After experiencing that a course she studied atColumbia University in the United States was not recognized by the Italian education system, she dedicated much of her life in promoting and developing what would become theErasmus Programme, an exchangeprogramme of students between European universities. She was nicknamed "Mamma Erasmus" or "Mother Erasmus" because of her role in promoting the programme.
Sofia Corradi was born in Rome on 5 September 1934.[1] Her father worked for theItalian national railway company as an engineer.[2] Her parents had an international outlook.[3]
She studied law at theSapienza University of Rome.[3] In 1957, in her fourth year of studies, she received the opportunity to study in theUnited States thanks to aFulbright scholarship. She spent a year atColumbia University where she attended a master’s course in comparative university legislation.[3][4] Upon her return to Rome in 1958, however, her degree was not recognised by the Italian educational system.[4][5] She recalled how she felt humiliated in front of other students as her time in the US was dismissed as a "vacation", and how a functionary had told her "Columbia, you say? I've never heard of that before".[5][6] She had to spend an extra year to obtain her Italian degree.[5] The experience led her to the idea of creating a system of recognition of courses taken abroad and the promotion of university exchanges.[5][7]
Such ideas had already been put forward in Italy, but without any concrete results.[7] After graduating Corradi pursued research on the right to education at theUnited Nations and became a scientific consultant for the Association of Rectors of Italian Universities at the age of 30.[5][6] It was a post she gained in part to her diploma from Columbia, and she used her position to lobby intensively for her idea of a university exchange programme and mutual recognition.[5][7] She cooperated with well-established rectorsAlessandro Faedo andVincenzo Buonocore [it] to further her ideas.[7]
In 1969, her ideas were outlined at the European Conference of Rectors inGeneva by Alessandro Faedo (in a note written by Corradi), and also put forward in four large Italian newspapers.[1][5][6] She later recalled that critics asked her what the point was of sending students to Germany "to chase blonde girls", to which she replied that if someone didn't want to study, they wouldn't take exams anyway.[6] Her note was adopted by the Italian Minister of Education,Mario Ferrari Aggradi [it], and would form the basis of a legal act adopted years later.[6] It also generated talks between other European countries.[6] Corradi built on the momentum to continue lobbying for her ideas. In 1976, her principles were established at the European level with the approval of the Resolution of 9 February 1976 of theEuropean Economic Community, that encouraged student exchanges between universities in different countries. This resolution allowed the experimentation (which lasted from 1976 to 1986, the decade of the "Joint Study Programs") of that model of "mobility with recognition of credits" which, after various delays and obstacles, would become the Erasmus Programme in 1987.[3][5][6][8] Sofia Corradi was later nicknamed "Mamma Erasmus" or "Mother Erasmus".[3][4]
Corradi died on 18 October 2025, at the age of 91.[4]
Corradi carried out research at theUN Commission on Human Rights, where she studied the issue of theright to education as a fundamental human right. She has also worked for the Academy of International Law inThe Hague, theLondon School of Economics in London, and forUNESCO in Paris.[9] She taughtLifelong learning at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of theRoma Tre University from 1980 to 2004.[10]
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