Berlusconi, who had a recent history of health issues, had recently been diagnosed with leukemia, Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital said. He had been admitted to the hospital before with breathing problems, and attended a check-up there on Friday.
The politician, who was long regarded as Italy’s most colorful public figure, was elected prime minister three times and served for a total of nine years, longer than anyone since Benito Mussolini. Nicknamed “Il Cavaliere” (The Knight), his career was marked by a series of political, financial and personal scandals, many of which landed him in court.
Who is Berlusconi?
Born 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. He also owned AC Milan football club between 1986 and 2017.
Forza Italia was founded in 1993. A year later, Berlusconi was the first prime minister to be elected without previously having held a government office and his second term in office, between 2001 and 2006, is the longest served by any Italian leader since the second world war. He returned to power in 2008 but was forced to resign in 2011 amid an acute debt crisis.
Berlusconi 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. 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 fell short of the 40% required to govern.
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. Berlusconi was also elected as a senator.
He married twice, and was in a relationship with Francesca Pascale, 37, for seven years before a relationship with 33-year-old Marta Fascina, an MP with Forza Italia with whom he had a “symbolic marriage” in March 2022. He has five children.
