His cremation will take place later in the day at the Taj Ganj cremetorium, a family friend, Abhinay Prasad said.

He had recently retired as head of the foreign languages department of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University.

He was suffering from swine flu and had been referred to a Delhi hospital when his condition worsened here.

Raghvanshi was a member of the CPI and had taken part in many agitational programmes of the party.

Hundreds of theatre workers from Agra and neighbouring areas were groomed by him over the years.

“Only yesterday, I suggested his name as one of the ‘Shining Jewels of Agra’ and today he has left us... who could have thought the dynamic and a pioneer who carried forward the great cultural tradition, the legacy his father left behind, the lovable, gentle, human, ever-helpful Dr. Jitendra Raghvanshi”, said Brij Khandelwal, eminent journalist and editor of Agratoday.in.

“Jitendra Raghuvanshi was a wonderful theater personality, teacher and journalist. Many journalists in today’s media fraternity are groomed by him,” said Dharmendra Kumar, Editor, Mediabharti.com and his one of the students.

"The Agra theatre world has lost its leader who through sheer grit and hard work kept alive the traditions of local arts and culture," said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.