COMUNICACIÓN

The Italian educator Sofia Corradi, better known as “Mamma Erasmus” and awarded the Carlos V European Award in 2016, has passed away at the age of 91 in Rome. Corradi studied at the Columbia Graduate School of Law, earning a Master in Comparative Law. She graduated with honours in Law from the University of Rome La Sapienza and conducted research on the right to education as a fundamental human right at the UN Human Rights Commission, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the London School of Economics. (18/10/2025)

Sofia Corradi received the award on 9 May 2016 at a solemn ceremony presided over by HM king Felipe VI at the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste. The jury of the Carlos V European Award, convened by Yuste Foundation, decided to honour her for “her career and, above all, her great commitment and contribution to the process of European integration by means of the design and implementation of the ERASMUS initiative of the European Union, as well as her work and endeavour on behalf of academic mobility, focussing on young European students as a guarantee of tomorrow and the future of Europe”.

During her speech at the award ceremony, Corradi, while expressing her deep emotion at receiving an honour bearing the name of the emperor symbolising European unity, emphasised the value of the Erasmus programme, which she helped to promote, as one of the most powerful initiatives for fostering European integration, international understanding and peace. In this regard, she recalled that the European programme is not limited to language learning or academic excellence, “but represents a transformative life experience that nurtures autonomy, responsibility, creativity, solidarity and cultural openness”.

Sofia Corradi highlighted that this initiative —conceived during the Cold War and officially launched in 1987— has enabled generations of young Europeans to become “citizens of the world, with greater capacity for dialogue, peaceful conflict resolution and cooperation”. She also defended the Erasmus programme’s role as “an instrument for peacebuilding and prevention at the social and cultural grassroots level”.

To conclude her speech, she encouraged expanding Erasmus Plus cooperation with other regions of the world, placing particular emphasis on Latin America, “to make the most of the shared language and the potential of Spanish universities as strategic partners”.

Sofia Corradi and Yuste

Sofia Corradi actively participated in various activities organised by Yuste Foundation. After receiving the Carlos V European Award, she delivered a lecture at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Extremadura. The following year, she gave the opening lecture at the doctoral seminar “Peace and European Values as a Potential Model for Integration and Progress in a Global World”, which brought together ten researchers selected for a research and mobility grant in European studies to present their work to fellow researchers and professors. She later presided over the presentation in Rome of the volume compiling the seminar’s research, which forms part of the book collection “Cuadernos de Yuste”, published by Yuste Foundation. In addition, Sofia Corradi served on the jury of the Carlos V European Award in several editions.

Yuste Foundation, its board of trustees and entire team mourn the loss of such an illustrious figure committed to European integration.