Silvio Berlusconi death: Italy’s former PM dies aged 86 as cause of death remains unknown

Italy’s controversial former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has died aged 86 after being hospitalized with leukemia last week.

The billionaire businessman created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the country’s political landscape – while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals. His spokesman confirmed his death this morning.

He had suffered from leukemia “for some time” and had recently contracted pneumonia. He was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Friday for what aides said were pre-scheduled tests related to his leukaemia.

Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, and while he played no role in the government himself, his death is likely to destabilize Italian politics in the coming months.

Berlusconi’s health has deteriorated significantly in recent years, with open-heart surgery in 2016 and numerous hospitalizations since he contracted Covid-19 three years ago.

The former prime minister – who was dating 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina – was released from hospital last month after being treated for a lung infection linked to chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CML).

He was admitted to the intensive care unit of the cardiac ward at San Raffaele Hospital in April 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 form of blood cancer characterized by a high white blood cell count.

He was discharged on May 19 after 45 days in the hospital.

Berlusconi had previously overcome prostate cancer, which he described as “a months-long nightmare.”

But it was his battle with Covid in 2020 that he described as the “most dangerous challenge” of his life.

The three-time prime minister of Italy, who has been embroiled in several scandals – particularly around his ‘bunga bunga’ parties – was hospitalized in 2006 with a minor heart problem after he passed out and underwent heart surgery in January at a US hospital. 2007.

The former owner of AC Milan, who also underwent major heart surgery in 2016 to replace an aortic valve, has had a pacemaker for several years.

He was hospitalized again in January 2022 for a reported urinary tract infection.

The larger-than-life character, who once compared himself to Jesus, was Italy’s longest-serving prime minister, but has also been plagued by scandal.

Despite being diagnosed with leukemia, he remained active in politics until the end as a senator and partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.

Berlusconi also wielded enormous influence through his television and newspaper interests – in fact he invented commercial TV in Italy – his ownership of the AC Milan football club and his vast wealth, as Italy’s richest person for a decade.

Long before Donald Trump turned his business success into a White House bid, Berlusconi captivated millions of Italians by presenting himself as a self-made man who enjoyed life and spoke his mind, even to the point of insulting fellow leaders.

To his critics, however, the right-winger was a tax-dodging playboy who used his massive media empire to further his political career and then exploited his power to protect his business interests.

He spent much of his life facing legal action, and the cases surrounding his infamous “Bunga Bunga” sex parties, attended by young girls, including underage escorts, were not finalized until February 2023.

Despite remaining chairman of his Forza Italia party, a junior partner in Meloni’s coalition, he had largely withdrawn from public opinion in recent months.

His health problems grew more and more – although he remained proud of his appearance, always smartly dressed and his slicked-back hair never showing the slightest trace of gray.

Berlusconi stormed onto the political scene in the early 1990s, having built up a media and real estate company where he was seen as a breath of fresh air after a period of corruption and scandal.

Presenting himself as a modern Italian success story, and supported by his TV stations and newspapers, he won his first election victory in 1994 with his new movement, Forza Italia (Go Italy!), named after a football chant.

Prime Minister for only nine months, he rebounded with another election victory in 2001 after a populist campaign promising jobs and economic growth, signing a “contract with Italians” on live television.

He served until 2006 and returned as prime minister between 2008 and 2011, becoming the longest-serving prime minister in Italy’s post-war history.

He had to quit because debt-laden Italy – the eurozone’s third-largest economy – came under severe strain during the financial crisis.

The tenure of the man dubbed ‘Il Cavaliere’ (the Knight) divided Italians both over his policies – including his controversial decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq – and over his whole approach to life.

During his tenure, prosecutors hunted him down, even as his supporters passed laws in parliament to protect him and his allies.

Despite multiple lawsuits – he claimed in 2021 to have gone through 86 trials – he was never behind bars and successfully appealed convictions for fraud and corruption early in his political career.

In 2013, Berlusconi received a final conviction for tax fraud, where he performed community service at a care home for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

He was also long suspected of mafia ties, but vehemently denied this.