Il Cavaliere is no more. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on Monday June 12 at the age of 86, Italian media announced. A businessman and important political figure in Italy, he was also known for his many controversies and court cases. Suffering from leukemia, he had been hospitalized several times in recent months, notably in intensive care in April. He had been admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday June 9, for what was presented as check-ups.
Born in Milan in 1936, Silvio Berlusconi started at the bottom of the ladder, being an animator on boats. He got into real estate during the 1960s, before founding numerous companies in construction, finance, insurance and the media. These will allow him to found his empire and establish his influence in Italy. He was also one of the richest men in Italy, his fortune being estimated at 6.4 billion euros by Forbes magazine last April. A football fan, he chaired AC Milan for more than 30 years, before selling the club in 2017, but remained the owner of the Monza club.
Already well known to Italians, he entered politics in 1994 with the creation of the Forza Italia party. Nicknamed “the immortal”, Silvio Berlusconi has spent more than thirty years in politics, as deputy, senator and president of the Italian Council of Ministers three times (1994-1995; 2001-2006; 2008-2011). His influence on Italian politics had remained significant in recent years.
His various terms of office were marred by numerous scandals, since Silvio Berlusconi was accused of corruption, witness tampering, tax evasion and paid sex with minors… Cases for which he was still on trial, in particular that of “Rubygate “, named after a minor invited to her “Bunga Bunga” parties. Although he was prosecuted many times, Il Cavaliere never went to prison. Married twice, Silvio Berlusconi was the father of five children. Since 2020, he was in a relationship with Marta Fascina, a woman 53 years his junior.
Tributes have multiplied on Twitter since the announcement of his death on Monday morning. In France, the President of the Republicans Eric Ciotti paid tribute to a “true monument of politics in Italy”, hailing a “fervent defender of the friendship between our two nations”. At the time of writing these lines, Elisabeth Borne and Emmanuel Macron have not yet reacted.
