On May 13, José Alberto “Pepe” Mujica Cordano, who served as president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, died of cancer at his farmhouse in Rincón del Cerro outside the capital city of Montevideo.

If you’ve never heard of Mujica, that’s not surprising. Uruguay is a small nation of only 3.5 million people, squeezed between the comparatively behemoth countries of Brazil and Argentina. The country holds little political power within South America. Its major exports are beef, soy, and some of the best professional soccer players in the world.

But for a brief period after his election, Mujica was an international celebrity, the subject of glowing profiles by journalists and filmmakers from around the world. One writer for The New Republic even described the attention that surrounded him as a “global Mujica cult.”

“As chief of state and representative of Uruguay to the world, he was extraordinary,” says Adolfo Garcé, professor of political science at the University of the Republic in Montevideo. “When he was president, the world talked about Uruguay not only because of soccer.”

In some ways, Mujica’s international notoriety was understandable. It is easier to idealize political leaders who are not your own, distanced from the day-to-day compromises that tarnish even the most compelling political figures. But Mujica drew acclaim by behaving in a way that was, well, un-presidential. He refused to move into the presidential residence in the capital city of Montevideo. He preferred his small farmhouse at the end of a dirt road outside of town, surrounded by poor and working-class neighbors. His selected mode of transportation was not a stately black Mercedes, but a light blue Volkswagen Beetle that he drove to the presidential office each day. He gave away 90 percent of his presidential salary to charity causes and small entrepreneurs. The pomp and ceremony of high office was abandoned, as well as the usual retinue of fawning political aides.