Italian Sofia Corradi, creator of the European program "Erasmus", which enabled millions of young people to study at foreign universities, died in Rome at the age of 91, Italian media reported, quoted by Agence France-Presse and BTA.
The family ú, which announced Corradi's death, described her as a woman "with great energy and great intellectual and emotional generosity".
A lecturer in pedagogy at the Roma Tre University in Rome, many call Sofia Corradi "Mama Erasmus".
She has a master's degree in law from Columbia University after winning a prestigious American scholarship "Fulbright". Since her American degree was not recognized by the Italian education system upon her return to her homeland, she proposed the creation of a student exchange program, which was launched in the European Union in 1987.
According to the official website of "Erasmus", around 16 million students have participated in the program since then.
The EU-run program encourages closer cooperation between higher education institutions across Europe.
Corradi said in 2018 that the idea for the program, born during the Cold War, was her "personal mission for peace".
The scholar, who was born and died in Rome, conducted research on the right to education for the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Academy of International Law in The Hague and the London School of Economics (LSE).
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Oct 19, 2025 06:14 1 347