Ado Campeol, the Italian man known as the "father of tiramisu," has died

Ado Campeol, the famed owner of the Italian restaurant where tiramisu is widely thought to have been invented, died over the weekend at his home in Treviso, the region's governor announced. He was 93.

"Treviso loses another one of its gastronomical stars," Luco Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday. "It is at his restaurant, thanks to intuition and the imagination of his wife, that was born the tiramisu, one of the most celebrated desserts in the world."

Tiramisu — roughly translated as "pick-me-up" — features egg yolks whipped with mascarpone cheese, layered over coffee-soaked biscuits and topped with cocoa powder.

While the dessert's origins are often disputed and the family never asserted copyright over the recipe, Campeol and his wife, Alba, the owners of the restaurant Le Beccherie, have long been considered its inventors. According to local media, the dessert was added to their restaurant's menu in the 1970s.

According to the BBC, Alba Campeol and chef Roberto Linguanotto came up with the idea for the dessert after Linguanotto accidentally dropped some mascarpone cheese into a bowl of eggs and sugar. He and Alba perfected the concoction by adding coffee-soaked ladyfingers and sprinkling it with cocoa. Tiramisu is now considered a staple of Italian gastronomy. 

The recipe was eventually certified by the Italian Academy of Cuisine, and Zaia led an effort to secure the dish protected status by the European Union so it couldn't be made with strawberries or cream.

Campeol is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.