Ilya Zhitomirskiy: Diaspora Co-Founder Dies at 22

by Jordan Yerman | November 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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Ilya Zhitomirskiy in Apparent Suicide

Ilya Zhitomirskiy, one of the co-founders of Facebook alternative Diaspora, has apparently committed suicide. He was 22 years old.

Diaspora: Open-Source Facebook Alternative

TechCrunch first reported the news of Ilya Zhitomirskiy's death, which has made waves through the start-up world.

A San Francisco Police Department officer confirmed on Monday that a police report about Zhitomirskiy's death says officers responded to the 700 block of Treat Avenue around 8:10 p.m. on Saturday. The department had received phone calls about a possible suicide.

Diaspora sought $10,000 in seed money through Kickstarter, and raised over $200,000. The timing of the launch was key: Diaspora was introduced just as Facebook was undergoing yet another confusing privacy-settings change.

Diaspora was founded by Daniel Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, Raphael Sofaer, and Ilya Zhitomirskiy.