Italy’s former PM Silvio Berlusconi, 86, dies after leukaemia battle

Italy’s controversial former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – famed for his notorious ‘Bunga Bunga’ [sexual] parties – has died aged 86 after being admitted to hospital with leukaemia last week. The billionaire businessman created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the country’s political landscape – while fending off multiple legal and [sexual intercourse] scandals. His spokesman confirmed his death this morning. 

Berlusconi had been suffering from leukaemia ‘for some time’ and had recently developed a lung infection. The tycoon was admitted to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukaemia. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, and although he himself did not have a role in government, his death is likely to destabilize Italian politics in the coming months. Pictured: Berlusconi and his 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina, who is a Forza Italia MP.

His business empire also faces an uncertain future. He never publicly indicated who would take full charge of his MFE company following his death, even though his eldest daughter Marina is expected to play a prominent role. At least two of his daughters – Barbara (pictured) and Eleonora – were photographed outside the hospital on Monday. 

Two members of the Italian government mourned his passing, with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini calling him in a statement ‘a great man and a great Italian.’ Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on Twitter that Berlusconi’s death amounted to the end of an era. ‘I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio,’ Crosetto said. AC Milan, the football club which won a host of domestic and European titles under Silvio Berlusconi’s ownership, called him ‘unforgettable’ in a tribute after his death aged 86 Monday. ‘Thank you, Mr President. Always with us,’ the club said in a statement, adding it was ‘grieving the passing of the unforgettable Silvio Berlusconi.’ Pictured: The last known photo of Berlusconi, taken as he left the San Raffaele hospital after a 45-day of hospitalization, in Milan, May 19.

‘Tomorrow, we will dream of new ambitions, create new challenges, and seek new victories. Which will represent the good, the strong, and the true that lies inside us, in all of us who shared this adventure of binding our lives to a dream called Milan,’ the statement continued. Carlo Ancelotti, who won two Champions League titles as a player for AC Milan in 1989, 1990 before then coaching the club to two more European successes in 2003 and 2007, led the tributes to the former club president. ‘Today’s sadness doesn’t erase the happy moments spent together,’ Ancelotti, the current Real Madrid manager, tweeted along with a photo of him standing beside Berlusconi. There remains infinite gratitude to the president, but above all to an ironic, loyal, intelligent, sincere man, fundamental in my adventure as a football player first, and then as a coach. Thanks President.’ Pictured: Members of the media work outside San Raffaele hospital where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died in Milan, Italy, June 12.

Berlusconi was prime minister for three spells, running from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. His health markedly deteriorated in recent years, with open-heart surgery in 2016 and numerous hospital admissions since contracting Covid-19 three years ago. Pictured: G20 leaders (from left) U.S. President Barack Obama, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pose for a family photo during the G20 summit at the ExCel center, in east London, on April 2, 2009.

The former PM – who was in a relationship with 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina (pictured right) – was discharged from hospital last month after treatment for a lung infection linked to a Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CML). He was admitted to intensive care in April in the cardiac unit of the San Raffaele hospital after suffering from breathing problems. While there, Berlusconi, the leader of the Right-wing Forza Italia party, was diagnosed with a lung infection and CML – a rare blood cancer characterised by high numbers of white blood cells. He was discharged on May 19 after 45 days in hospital. Berlusconi had previously overcome prostate cancer, which he described as ‘a nightmare lasting months.’ But it was his battle with Covid in 2020 which he described as the ‘most dangerous challenge’ of his life.

The three-time prime minister of Italy, who was embroiled in several scandals – most notably around his ‘Bunga Bunga’ parties – was admitted to hospital with a minor heart problem after fainting in 2006, and underwent heart surgery in a U.S. hospital in January 2007. The former AC Milan owner, who also had major heart surgery in 2016 to replace an aortic valve, has had a pacemaker for several years. He was hospitalized again for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022. Despite being diagnosed with leukaemia, he was active in politics to the end as a senator and partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government. The larger-than-life character, who once compared himself to Jesus, was Italy’s longest serving premier but was also plagued by scandal. Berlusconi also wielded huge influence through his television and newspaper interests – he effectively invented commercial TV in Italy – his ownership of AC Milan football club, and his sheer wealth, as Italy’s richest person for a decade. 

Long before Donald Trump parlayed his business success into a White House bid, Berlusconi charmed millions of Italians by presenting himself as a self-made man who enjoyed life and spoke his mind, even to the extent of insulting fellow leaders. To his critics, however, the right-winger was a tax-evading playboy who used his vast media empire to further his political career, and then exploited his power to protect his business interests. He spent much of his life embroiled in legal action, and the cases around his notorious ‘Bunga Bunga’ [sexual intercourse] parties, attended by young girls including underage escorts, were only wrapped up in February 2023. Despite remaining president of his Forza Italia party, a junior partner in Meloni’s coalition, he had largely retired from public view in recent months. Pictured: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Miss Italia 2008 Miriam Leone.

His friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured together) put him at odds with Ms Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. On his 86th birthday, while the war raged, Mr Putin sent Mr Berlusconi best wishes and vodka, and the Italian boasted he returned the favour by sending back Italian wine. He suffered increasing health problems – although he maintained his pride in his appearance, always smartly dressed, his slicked-back hair never showing the slightest trace of grey. But as Mr Berlusconi aged, some derided his perpetual tan, hair transplants and live-in girlfriends who were decades younger. For many years, however, Mr Berlusconi seemed untouchable despite the personal scandals. Berlusconi burst onto the political scene in the early 1990s, after building up a media and real estate business, where he was viewed as a breath of fresh air after a period of corruption and scandal. Pitching himself as a modern Italian success story, and backed by his TV stations and newspapers, he secured his first election victory in 1994 with his new movement, Forza Italia (Go Italy!), named after a football chant. 

He lasted as prime minister for only nine months, but bounced back with another election win in 2001 after a populist campaign promising jobs and economic growth, signing a ‘Contract with Italians’ live on television. He served until 2006, and returned again as prime minister between 2008 and 2011, making him the longest-serving premier in Italy’s post-war history. He was forced to quit as debt-laden Italy – the eurozone’s third largest economy – came under intense pressure during the financial crisis. The tenure of the man dubbed ‘Il Cavaliere’ (The Knight) divided Italians, as much as over his policies – including his controversial decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq – as his entire approach to life. To admirers, the three-time premier was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage. To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses.

Throughout his time in office, prosecutors snapped at his heels, even as his supporters in parliament passed laws to shield him and his allies. Criminal cases were launched but ended in dismissals when statutes of limitations ran out in Italy’s slow-moving justice system, or he was victorious on appeal. Investigations targeted the tycoon’s steamy so-called ‘Bunga Bunga’ parties involving young women and minors, or his businesses, which included the football team AC Milan, the country’s three biggest private TV networks, magazines and a daily newspaper, and advertising and film companies. Only one probe led to a conviction – a tax fraud case stemming from a sale of movie rights in his business empire. The conviction was upheld in 2013 by Italy’s top criminal court, but he was spared prison because of his age, 76, and was ordered to do community service by assisting Alzheimer’s patients. He still was stripped of his senate seat and banned from running or holding public office for six years, under anti-corruption laws.

He suffered personal humiliations as well. Mr Berlusconi lost his standing as Italy’s richest man, although his sprawling media holdings and luxury property still left him a billionaire several times over. In 2013, guests at one of his parties included an under-age Moroccan dancer whom prosecutors alleged had [sexual intercourse] with Mr Berlusconi in exchange for cash and jewellery. After a trial spiced by lurid details, a Milan court initially convicted Mr Berlusconi of paying for [sexual intercourse] with a minor and using his office to try to cover it up. Both denied having [sexual intercourse] with each other, and he was eventually acquitted. The Catholic Church, at times sympathetic to his conservative politics, was scandalized by his antics, and his wife of nearly 20 years divorced him. But Mr Berlusconi was unapologetic, declaring: ‘I’m no saint.’ Mr Berlusconi insisted that voters were impressed by his brashness.

‘The majority of Italians in their hearts would like to be like me and see themselves in me and in how I behave,’ he said in 2009, during his third and final stint as premier. He boasted of his libido and entertained friends and world leaders at his villas. At one party, newspapers reported the women were dressed as ‘little Santas.’ At another, photos showed topless women and a naked man lounging poolside. An unrepentant Mr Berlusconi said in 2010: ‘I love life! I love women!’ Despite the multiple court cases – he claimed in 2021 he had gone through 86 trials – he never spent any time behind bars and successfully appealed convictions for fraud and corruption early in his political career. He was also long suspected of links to the mafia, but strongly denied it. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12185085/Italys-former-PM-Silvio-Berlusconi-dead-86-Italian-media-reports-claim.html?ito=msngallery

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