Oscar-Nominated Italian Director Franco Zeffirelli Dies at 96

Famed film, opera and theater director Franco Zeffirelli has died at the age of 96.

The director died on Saturday “at the end of a long illness,” according to a translated press release written by the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation.

A spokesman for the foundation told CNN that the director died in Rome about two weeks after contracting pneumonia.

“He had suffered for a while, but he left in a peaceful way,“ Zeffirelli’s son Luciano told CBS News about his father dying peacefully at home.

Following news of his death, many of the opera houses where he had worked over the years, as well as those who had known the director throughout his life, shared tributes on social media.

“Franco Zeffirelli, one of the world’s greatest men of culture, passed away this morning,” Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, wrote on social media. “Goodbye dear Maestro, Florence will never forget you.”

The Metropolitan Opera added: “The Met mourns the loss of director Franco Zeffirelli, a great visionary in our company’s history. He created 11 Met productions, including his classic La Bohème, which is the most-performed staging in the company’s history. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.”

A funeral chamber will be set up in Rome’s Campidoglio where fans can say their goodbyes on Monday, according to the press release. Further funeral information has yet to be released.

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In 2018, actor Johnathon Schaech alleged that he had been harassed and sexually abused by the director while filming the 1993 movie Sparrow.

In an exclusive first-person account shared with PEOPLE, Schaech, who was 22 at the time, wrote that “He was trying to seduce me, under the guise of teaching me, from the start.”

In a statement to PEOPLE, Zeffirelli’s son Pippo called the accusations “not credible.”

Zeffirelli was born in Florence in 1923 after his mother had an extramarital affair with a wool and silk merchant, according to The New York Times. His mother, who died when he was young, reportedly wanted his last name to be “Zeffiretti,” a reference to a Mozart opera, but the name was misspelled on his birth certificate.

Zeffirelli, who initially studied architecture, fell in love with the theater after seeing Laurence Oliver in Shakespeare’s Henry V, according to the BBC. His first big break came in 1949, when he designed the set for an Italian production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

Over the years, Zeffirelli went on to direct many notable operas, plays and movies, including his 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The film, which starred Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, was a tremendous success at the box office and earned the director an Oscar nomination.

“There was nobody quite like Franco. He lit up a room when he entered it. He was so alive in life and when he directed. He brought out the best in actors- we all wanted to please Franco and his genius. He also gave actors the space to do and feel what they wanted with a role and only stepped in to direct and tweak something if he felt it was needed,” Hussey told PEOPLE in a statement. “He was my friend and my director. We were very close and had a special bond. I was 15 when we met and we stayed friends until now and forever really. We went through a very special experience and time together and I celebrate his long and fruitful life. I am grateful to have worked and known him and he takes a piece of my heart with him. I’m sure I will see him again.”

His other notable films include his 1967 adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, as well as Hamlet (1990), which featured Mel Gibson in the titular role.

Zeffirelli was also elected to the Italian Senate twice, and was known for his conservative beliefs, including on the topic of abortion.

Later in life, he adopted two adult sons: Pippo and Luciano.