Every Erasmus student has heard them: the stories about Erasmus parties, Erasmus universities, Erasmus friendships, Erasmus babies, Erasmus travels and Erasmus lifelong learning. Yet, what does it mean to be an Erasmus-student – in the actual sense? For the majority of students, it will certainly not mean they are a student of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Students doing an Erasmus semester will probably know the backronym European community action scheme for the mobility of university students, enabling them to study, learn and live abroad. Yet: since it is a backronym, who was the name-giver of this popular programme?

On a recent day trip to Rotterdam I was well aware of this city being the (supposed) birthplace of Desiderius Erasmus, a Renaissance humanist who was born around 1466. Strolling through the streets in Rotterdam I saw this quote of him displayed on a house façade: “Heel de wereld is mijn vaderland”. The whole world is my fatherland… Curiously enchanted I walked on to the Erasmus bridge which gave me a pleasing sense of connection and being in the right place at the right moment. What could be more appropriate than spending my own Erasmus in the home country of its name giver and visiting his birthplace?

I continued my walk to the bronze statue of Desiderius in front of the St. Laurenskerk. Just around the corner is another Erasmus monument, made out of blue and white tiles, with Desiderius’ face and quotes printed on them. One of them read: ‘What greater folly than standing in the market place in bronze?’. I chuckled, looked over my shoulder to his statue and imagined him stepping down from his podium, walking towards me. ‘My own wish is to be a citizen of the world, to be a fellow-citizen to all men – a pilgrim better still.’

‘What a beautiful thought!’, I would say and Desiderius would smile. ‘My life was characterized by scholarly travels’, he would say. ‘From the Netherlands to Paris, on to England, France, Leuven, Italy, back to England – Cambridge, precisely -, then Basel, back to Brabant and Basel again… I corresponded with brilliant thinkers of my time and moved from city to city in order to tutor. I’ve been around. I’ve seen places. I’ve met people.’ What a privilege!

This year, the Erasmus programme is celebrating its 30th anniversary. And Desiderius’ legacy lives on in us curious young people.

Read Janina Dahl's blogs here