Gianroberto Casaleggio (; 14 August 1954 – 12 April 2016) was an Italian entrepreneur and
political activist
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...
, born in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
.
He was co-founder and
chairman of Casaleggio Associati srl, an internet and publishing company that advises on network strategies. He was editor of
Beppe Grillo
Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo (; born 21 July 1948) is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger, and politician.
He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder (together with Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the Italian Five Star Movement ...
's blog, and together they founded the
Five Star Movement, of which Casaleggio was sometimes called the "
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...
". In the Italian context, Casaleggio promoted the
Web as a medium for political communication.
Biography
Casaleggio began his career working at
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been par ...
, then, in the late 1990s, became CEO at Webegg, an internet consulting company. Webegg suffered heavy losses (over €20 million) in the period 2002–2003, and Casaleggio was replaced as CEO in 2003 by Giuseppe Longo. In 2004, Casaleggio founded Casaleggio Associati, an internet consulting company that carries out research on e-commerce in Italy and whose findings are presented at a conference held in Milan every spring (since 2006).
Casaleggio Associati became the editor of Beppe Grillo's blog in 2005, as well as of some of Grillo's books. Casaleggio Associati was also editor of the web-blog of
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor i ...
until 2010, and the website of Chiarelettere, an editor, until 2013, when he was dismissed following disagreement over the editorial strategy.
Casaleggio died on 12 April 2016 in Milan, at the age of 61, after a long period of illness.
Family
After Gianroberto's death, his son
Davide was appointed to replace him as president of Casaleggio Associati.
[Horowitz, Jason]
"With Success Comes Dissension in Italy’s Five Star Movement"
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', December 12, 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
References
Sources
*
Five Star Movement*
Personal website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casaleggio, Gianroberto
1954 births
2016 deaths
Businesspeople from Milan
Politicians from Milan
Five Star Movement politicians
Deaths from brain cancer in Italy