Italy’s former prime minister Matteo Renzi described Berlusconi as a history-maker. Often criticised for his arrogance, sometimes obscene language, chauvinism and blurring the lines between business and politics, his rivals, too, united in paying tribute. Silvio Berlusconi (centre) with Milan’s Marco van Basten, manager Arrigo Sacchi, Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit in 1990 with the European Cup. Berlusconi was also elected as a senator. In 2019, Berlusconi won a seat in the European parliament, and in general elections in October 2022 his party returned to power in a coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy. His ban on running for office was lifted in time for the general elections in 2018, when Forza Italia ran in coalition with the League and Brothers of Italy but the parties fell short of the 40% required to govern. He was acquitted on appeal on all charges related to the parties, but was convicted of tax fraud in late 2012, for which he served his year-long sentence doing part-time community service at a residential home in Milan.
He returned to power in 2008 but was forced to resign in 2011 amid an acute debt crisis and facing allegations he had hosted “bunga bunga” sex parties with underage girls, something he denied. His second term in office, between 20, was the longest served by any Italian leader since the second world war. In 1994 Forza Italia was founded and Berlusconi became the first prime minister to be elected without previously having held a government office.
Supporters draped in the flags of Forza Italia and AC Milan, which he owned between 19, gathered on Monday outside the Milan hospital where he died.īorn in Milan in 1936 to a middle-class family, Berlusconi began his business career in property development before going on to found Mediaset, Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster. The former prime minister’s funeral is to be held on Wednesday in Milan – a city deeply associated with Berlusconi – when Italy will also mark a national day of mourning. “He leaves a huge void because he was great. Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, described Berlusconi’s death as “a great, enormous pain”. Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, described Berlusconi as “a great friend and a great Italian man”. On Monday, the Russian embassy in Rome described Berlusconi as a great statesman and visionary, while Putin, in what appeared to be a deeply personal statement, said he was a “dear person, a true friend”.
The two had recently disagreed over the war in Ukraine and Berlusconi’s friendship with Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who had sent him bottles of vodka for his most recent birthday. He was a man who was never afraid to stand up for his convictions, and it was exactly that courage and determination that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy.” The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, whose governing coalition includes Berlusconi’s Forza Italia as a junior member, said on Monday: “Silvio Berlusconi was above all a fighter.
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