Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister and wealthy media tycoon, died at 86, leaving behind a complex legacy marked by his influence on Italy’s politics and culture, as well as controversies surrounding legal issues and personal scandals.
Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who reshaped Italy’s political and cultural landscape while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals, has died aged 86, his spokesman confirmed on Monday.
The billionaire media mogul was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukemia.
His admission came just three weeks after he was discharged following a six-week stay at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, during which time doctors revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer.
Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, from heart surgery in 2016 to a 2020 hospitalization for coronavirus. Despite being re-elected to the Senate last year, he was rarely seen in public.
But he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a junior, and occasionally troublesome, partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.
Berlusconi led Italy three times between 1994 and 2011, for nine years, wooing voters with a promise of economic success only to be forced out as a debt crisis gripped his country.
But his influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper, and sporting interests, while his playboy antics kept him in the headlines even in his final years.
Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, two ex-wives, and five children, some of whom helped run his empire, recently estimated to be worth seven billion dollars.
While it is too soon for details of his funeral, Berlusconi built a Pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, near Milan, to house his family and friends when they die.
Bunga bunga parties
Charismatic, clownish, and with a fine grasp of what his audiences wanted, Berlusconi used his media interests to project an image of a strong, self-made man that voters could emulate, a tactic later used by US President Donald Trump.
Berlusconi began his career as a real-estate magnate before investing in television channels that broke the mold in Italy. He featured shows particularly popular with housewives, later a pillar of his electorate.
He portrayed himself as both the messiah and a martyr and enjoyed widespread popularity, though detractors accused him of cronyism, corruption, and pushing through laws to protect his interests.
His fans admired his plain speaking, although many Italians were acutely embarrassed by his crude jokes and insults on the international stage and his endless legal cases, which resulted in one conviction for corporate tax fraud.
While Italy’s economy floundered, the self-professed playboy was hosting his notorious “bunga bunga” sex parties, which triggered a series of trials that were only wrapped up recently.
In 2010, 17-year-old Karima El-Mahroug, known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer,” claimed to have been paid by Berlusconi for sex. Although acquitted, he was later accused of bribing witnesses to lie about the parties.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
