Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dead at 86, Italian media reports
Berlusconi is survived by his current partner and five children.
LONDON and ROME — Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died in Milan at the age of 86, Italian media reported.
The three-time prime minister and former Forza Italia party leader has suffered from a series of illnesses over the past few years.
The billionaire media mogul – worth about $7 billion – has had a pacemaker installed since he was 70 but more recently underwent heart surgery in 2016 to replace his aortic valve and has also Surviving an episode of prostate cancer.
“The end of an era,” said Guido Crosetto, Italian Defense Minister, speak in Italy. “I love him so much. Goodbye Silvio.”
His death was first reported on Monday by ANSAItalian news agency. ANSA reported that Berlusconi’s brother, Paolo, accompanied his children to the hospital shortly after his death on Monday.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi waves from inside his car as he leaves the San Raffaele hospital in Milan on May 19, 2023 after being discharged.
Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images
Berlusconi sat in the upper house of the Italian parliament, the Senate until his death, but had no government role in the conservative Georgia Meloni coalition that currently runs the country.
FILE PHOTO: The leader of Forza Italia and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrive for a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, Italy October 21, 2022.
Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
Berlusconi was born in Milan in 1936 and entered the world of media in the early 1970s before turning to politics in the 90s. He was first elected to the lower house and appointed prime minister of Italy. in the 1994 general election, his party, Forza Italia, won a relative majority just three months after its debut.
Berlusconi is no stranger to legal troubles in his career and a court recently acquitted him in February on charges of paying witnesses to lie in a commercial case. Juvenile prostitution lasted for more than a decade.
Spectators in a court display a banner featuring a caricature of the former Italian prime minister and current president of AC Monza, Silvio Berlusconi, before the Italian Serie A football match between Monza and Napoli on May 14. 2023 at Brianteo Stadium in Monza.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images
Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old partner, Marta Fascina – a member of the House of Representatives representing Forza Italia since 2018 – as well as his five children from previous relationships.
Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, on Monday called for a minute of silence for his former colleague. On Twitter, he praise Berlusconi’s generosity and respect.
