Posted on 14 December 2017
It is with great sorrow that we have learned of the passing of Manuel Marín, the so-called father of the European Union’s Erasmus programme and long term member of the European Commission.
The Spanish politician and former vice-president of the European Commission passed away in Madrid on the 4th of December at the age of 68. He started his career in European politics, as State Secretary for Relations with the European Communities and was actively involved in Spain's admission to the European Communities.
Following Spain’s accession he not only served in several important roles within the Commission, but he became particularly famous for his role in setting up the Erasmus Programme in 1987, an educational exchange programme allowing students to study all over the EU.
Marin visited Villa Salviati, where the Historical Archives of the European Union are located, on the 28th of October 2016 for a Conference entitled “A University for Europe – Higher Education and European Integration”. The conference was organized by the Alcide De Gasperi Centre (EUI) and the Department of History and Civilization in collaboration with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.
He was one of the speakers at the conference, which aimed to address the relationship between higher education and European integration in a historical perspective and explore the main challenges now facing higher education in Europe. His input was particularly valuable as he had an inside perspective on the matter of education in Europe.
In honor of his contribution to European education, we have organized an online exhibition on this subject with a particular focus on the Erasmus programme and the European University Institute.