An unstoppable figure in Italian politics, Berlusconi died at Saint Raphael Hospital in Milan at the age of 86, Italian news agency Ansa reported. He led the Italian government three times (in 1994-1995, 2001-2006 and 2008-2011) – for a total of more than nine years, which is a record for a democratic Italy. Although Berlusconi has not played a direct role in government in recent years, his Forza Italia party is a member of Georgian Prime Minister Meloni’s right-wing coalition.
Born in Milan in 1936 to middle-class parents, Berlusconi began his business career in real estate. He created Italy’s largest media company, Mediaset, before radically changing the Italian political landscape. He was also the owner of AC Milan from 1986 to 2017. In France, in 1986 he launched La Cinq, a short-lived private television channel. In June 2023, his fortune was estimated at around $7 billion.
As head of the center-right Forza Italia party, he became for decades the most visible and recognizable figure in Italian political and social life. Forza Italia was founded in 1993. A year later, Berlusconi became the first prime minister elected to the post, who had never held public office before, but entered big politics from big business. His second term, from 2001 to 2006, was the longest for an Italian leader since World War II. For the third time he became head of Italy’s government in 2008, but was forced to resign in 2011 due to an acute debt crisis. In 2019 Berlusconi won a seat in the European Parliament, and in the October 2022 general election his party returned to power in a coalition led by George Meloni. Berlusconi was then elected to the Italian Senate. Nicknamed Il Cavaliere (“Knight”) in his native country, Berlusconi was rightly considered a “kingmaker” in Italian politics.
Despite numerous high-profile cases, from the Rubygate scandal to accusations of tax evasion, Silvio Berlusconi has always maintained his undeniable influence in the Apennines. He openly expressed his sympathy for Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he called his friend. He did not change his principles amid an openly Russophobic and slanderous campaign in the West. He said that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was personally responsible for the escalation of tensions with Russia, for which he received a new avalanche of criticism against him, being already seriously ill.
Last Friday, Berlusconi was readmitted to a Milan hospital for a routine medical examination just weeks after being discharged. The hospitalization, which occurred earlier than expected, was not associated with “no criticality or anxiety” and met “clinical criteria of usual medical practice”, the medical establishment explained. Berlusconi, 86, left San Raffaele Hospital in May after six weeks of treatment for a lung infection linked to chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a type of cancer that attacks white blood cells. Berlusconi’s health has deteriorated markedly in recent years, following open-heart surgery in 2016 and numerous hospitalizations after contracting COVID-19 three years ago. He had long-term complications associated with the coronavirus, and he called it “the worst time of his life.”
He was married twice and was in a relationship with Francesca Pascal, 37, for seven years, then with Marta Fascina, 33, MP for Forza Italia, with whom, as he says, “he had a symbolic relationship wedding” in March 2022. Berlusconi is survived by five children.
Read the Latest Science and Technology News Today on The Eastern Herald.
