Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age 86, news agency ANSA reported quoting family members.

His brother Paolo and his children Marina, Eleonora and Barbara were present at the hospital where the leader of Forza Italia was admitted on Friday, reportedly for scheduled tests for his previously undisclosed chronic leukemia, the Italian news agency added.

The controversial leader, tainted by sex scandals, allegations of corruption and a tax fraud conviction, was diagnosed with leukaemia in April 2023. The media baron and the leader of Forza Italia party led three Italian governments between 1994 and 2011.

Berlusconi's party is a junior partner in the current ruling coalition in Italy. He was undergoing treatment for lung infection linked to a chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, where he passed away.

Berlusconi was Italy’s longest-serving post-war prime minister and he was appointed to the top job on three occasions.

Berlusconi’s immense wealth and fame propelled his career in politics and he emerged as the man to beat in Rome. His flamboyance can be understood from the fact that he once owned AC Milan, one of Europe's most popular football clubs.

It is no secret that Italy is a country that traditionally distrusts its political class. So, the conservative leader cultivated an image of an outsider and promised Italians ‘a new economic miracle’, as one of his electoral slogans put it.

The Milanese magnate essentially pioneered a brand of populism to revolutionise Italian politics and dominate it for over two decades.

The charismatic self-made businessman, who built a vast personal fortune as a property developer and a media baron, founded the conservative Forza Italia party and entered politics in 1993.

He first became the Prime Minister in January 1994 and his centre-right coalition government lasted only for nine months. But, Berlusconi was a formidable and charismatic campaigner who defied sex scandals, countless allegations of corruption and even criminal trials to keep coming back to power.

However, Berlusconi could not prevent an economic slide and he had to resign as the PM during his third term in 2011. The conservative leader had failed to take necessary action in order to stabilise Italy’s economy in the wake of Europe’s financial crisis in 2009.

For millions of Italians, Silvio Berlusconi was a larger-than-life figure who polarised society. In fact, his enduring legacy is still shaping the country’s politics a decade later.