ROME (AP) — Gianroberto Casaleggio, considered the ideological brains and technical guru behind Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, has died. He was 61.

Comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, who along with Casaleggio founded the party to shake up Italy’s political establishment, announced his death Tuesday in a blog post.

Grillo cited a letter Casaleggio wrote to Italian daily Corriere della Sera in 2012 in which he said he was an Italian citizen who merely wanted “to better the society in which he lives.”

His death in Milan, which the ANSA news agency said followed a brain edema in 2014, prompted an outpouring of condolences from across Italy’s political establishment and anti-establishment parties elsewhere.

Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party, called Casaleggio the “genius” behind the 5-Star Movement and “an inspiration for the new politics.”

The funeral was scheduled for April 14, Grillo tweeted.

__

This version corrects the day of death to Tuesday sted Thursday.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.