Mr. Berlusconi was one of the most extraordinary figures to emerge from Italy’s often bizarre political landscape; a series of scandals helped to make him a profoundly divisive figure throughout the country.
The controversial former prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, has passed away.
Friday marked the hospitalization of the 86-year-old senator and leader of the Forza Italia party, whose series of financial and sex scandals made him the most divisive figure in modern Italy.
After six weeks of treatment for a chronic leukemia-related lung infection, he was released last month.
Mr. Berlusconi’s demise marks the end of one of the most colorful and controversial political careers in recent history, as the scandal-plagued prime minister was infamous for his “bunga bunga” parties.
Involving prostitutes, the sex parties prompted a major scandal in Italy.
In 2010, he allegedly paid thousands of euros for sex with Karima El Mahroug, alias “Ruby the Heart Thief,” a nightclub performer of Moroccan descent.
He denied this but acknowledged releasing her from a police station by falsely claiming she was Hosni Mubarak’s niece.
El Mahroug had been detained in Milan on suspicion of stealing €3,000 (£2,570).
He was found not guilty because he didn’t know she was under 18.
Even though Mr. Berlusconi made light of his reputation as a philanderer, his second wife Veronica Lario did not, and she filed for divorce, claiming she could not live with a man who “frequented minors.”
Mr. Berlusconi, known for his brashness and exuberance, ruled Italy three times: 1994–1995, 2001–2006, and 2008–2011.
In 2011, he resigned as prime minister as Italy faced a fiscal crisis akin to Greece and multiple scandals.
After a media empire tax fraud conviction in 2008, he was disqualified from public office until 2018.
Mr. Berlusconi campaigned ahead of a national election in 2022, even though his once-dominant Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party, riven with divisions, received less than 8% of the vote – its lowest score ever.
However, this was sufficient to secure Mr. Berlusconi’s return to government as a junior partner in a right-wing coalition, with Mr. Berlusconi himself gaining a seat in the senate, thus ending his parliamentary exile.
Mr. Berlusconi was convicted of at least seven severe charges, including bribing senators and judges.
These convictions were ultimately overturned on appeal or swept from the courts by the statute of limitations, which gives magistrates a set amount of time to complete prosecutions – a period that the administration of Mr. Berlusconi drastically shortened.
Mr. Berlusconi was one of the most eccentric figures to emerge from Italy’s often bizarre political landscape, a flamboyant figure whose offensive quips alone would have ended his political career in the majority of European Union nations.
After Barack Obama became the first African-American president, Mr. Berlusconi praised his “tall, handsome, and tanned” appearance.
When he proclaimed that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had exchanged birthday greetings the year prior, he sparked outrage.
Mr. Berlusconi also blamed the conflict on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
An entrepreneur-turned-politician
Mr. Berlusconi launched Italy’s largest commercial television network in 1994.
The self-made billionaire, who owned the Italian football team AC Milan from 1986 to 2017, used his wealth and media savvy to enter the race, upending traditional parties in the same way that another property tycoon, Donald Trump, did in 2016 when he was elected president of the United States.
His numerous detractors assert that he primarily used his power to safeguard his business interests, citing Italy’s poor economic performance and unchecked corruption during his lengthy terms in office.
Mr. Berlusconi stated that he entered politics solely to combat the left.
“Politics has never been my interest. It cost me a great deal of time and effort. “If I entered the ring, it was only to prevent the communists from seizing power,” he told Chi magazine in a 2016 interview commemorating his 80th birthday.
After Mr. Berlusconi’s death, Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini said, “Today, a wonderful Italian has left us. One of the greatest of all time, in all disciplines, from all perspectives, without peers. But most importantly, I lose a wonderful friend today. I rarely cry, but today is one of those uncommon occasions.”
Viktor Orban, prime minister of Hungary, tweeted, “The valiant fighter has passed away. Rest in serenity, my companion.”
Former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte stated, “Silvio Berlusconi was an entrepreneur and politician who wrote significant chapters of our history in every field he entered.
“He has ignited and polarised the public debate perhaps like no other, and even his political opponents must acknowledge that he has never lacked courage, passion, or tenacity.”
Recent health issues for Berlusconi
In April, Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital treated the former Italian leader’s leukemia-related lung infection in intensive care.
They added that he had non-acute chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare form of blood malignancy.
In recent years, Berlusconi has endured multiple bouts of illness, including contracting COVID in 2020.
After a 10-day hospital stay, he called the condition “insidious” and his biggest challenge.
He fought prostate cancer, had an aortic valve replacement in 2016, and had a pacemaker for years.
According to Italian law, all five of Mr. Berlusconi’s children will receive a portion of his assets. Whereas Forza Italia may struggle without his leadership.
