Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fuelled parties and allegations of corruption, died on Monday, according to his television network. He was 86.
Mediaset announced his death with a smiling photo of the man on its homepage and the headline: “Berlusconi is dead.”
Berlusconi was admitted to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Friday, his second recent hospitalisation for treatment of chronic leukemia.
He also suffered over the years from heart ailments, prostate cancer and was hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2020.
A state funeral will be held Wednesday in Milan’s Duomo cathedral, according to the Milan Archdiocese.
A onetime cruise ship crooner, Berlusconi used his television networks and immense wealth to launch his long political career, inspiring both loyalty and loathing.
To admirers, the three-time premier was a charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage.
To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy, wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses.
His center-right Forza Italia political party was a junior partner in the government of current Premier Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader who came to power last year, although he held no position.
His friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin put him at odds with Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Meloni remembered Berlusconi as “above all as a fighter.”
“He was a man who had never been afraid to defend his beliefs. And it was exactly that courage and determination that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy,” Meloni said on Italian TV.
Former Premier Matteo Renzi recalled Berlusconi’s divisive legacy on Twitter. “Silvio Berlusconi made history in this country.
Many loved him, many hated him. All must recognize that his impact on political life, but also economics, sports and television, has been without precedence.” Berlusconi often boasted of his libido and entertained friends and world leaders at so-called “bunga bunga” parties his villas. “I love life! I love women!” he said in 2010. In 2013, guests included an underage Moroccan dancer whom prosecutors alleged had sex with Berlusconi in exchange for cash and jewellery.
After a lurid trial, a court initially convicted Berlusconi of paying for sex with a minor and using his office to try to cover it up. Both denied having sex, and he later was acquitted.
The Catholic Church, sometimes sympathetic to his conservative politics, was scandalised by his antics, and his second wife of nearly 20 years divorced him. Berlusconi was unapologetic, declaring: “I’m no saint.” As he aged, some derided his perpetual tan, hair transplants and decades-younger girlfriends. For many years, however, Berlusconi seemed untouchable despite the scandals.
