Vita Gazette – The entrepreneur who marked the last 30 years of our country’s politics has died at 86 at the San Raffaele in Milan.

Silvio Berlusconi is dead: the Cavaliere d’Italia goes away at the age of 86. The former prime minister died in the San Raffaele clinic in Milan. He had been hospitalised for a few days for checks following another extended hospitalisation that began on 5 April and ended on 19 May.

For decades, the protagonist of Italian entrepreneurial, political and sporting life, Berlusconi, had leukaemia. In the early hours of this morning, his condition had seen a sudden aggravation up to the outcome. Silvio Berlusconi passed away today, June 12, at 86. He had two wives, Carla Dall’Oglio and Veronica Lario, and two companions, Francesca Pascale and Marta Fascina. He leaves behind five children and sixteen grandchildren.

Entrepreneur and Prime Minister for four governments, the figure Berlusconi has shaped Italian politics. Retracing his political career means going through the country’s history over the last 30 years: no leader has so profoundly marked the public debate on topics beyond political ideologies and party alignments. The Berlusconi “character” has influenced the habits of Italian society with his media presence, changed the rules of information and entertainment with his television empire, and has been the protagonist of international sporting successes with his Milan. And much more. Berlusconi is also known by the nickname “il Cavaliere” for the honour of the order of merit for work received in 1977.

In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked him the 190th richest man in the world in the same ranking. Eleven years earlier, he figured in 12th place in the list of the most influential people in the world, thanks to his centrality in the Italian and international political scene. Founder and leader of Forza Italia and the Popolo delle Libertà, Berlusconi was nominated four times as Prime Minister for nine years: from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. A career that makes him the third longest-serving prime minister in the history of united Italy, after Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Giolitti.

Berlusconi has always maintained his party’s leadership and, until 2018, of the entire centre-right, continuing to exercise significant direct or indirect influence in the formation of government coalitions, even those in which Forza Italia did not take part. Berlusconi was a controversial figure who divided public opinion and political analysts.

Supporters have always highlighted his ability as a businessman, his charisma, his liberal policy to reduce taxes, and his ability to maintain excellent relations with the United States and Russia. Critics, however, often attacked him on issues of public ethics. Even before the scandals linked to his relationships with women, Berlusconi’s opponents attacked him for the conflict of interest that arose from his centrality in the political, business and media landscape. At one point, his eventful private life prevailed as an argument among detractors. With his exit from the scene, the discussion opens for Italian politics on who will inherit the political space of the liberals in the centre-right coalition. In the last 30 years, the area has been undisputedly dominated by Silvio Berlusconi.

In his famous 1994 speech: Berlusconi announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Council with a televised statement:

“Italy is the country I love. Here I have my roots, my hopes, my horizons. Here I learned about my business as an entrepreneur from my father and life. Here I also learned the passion for freedom. I chose to take the field and care for public affairs because I don’t want to live in an illiberal country governed by immature forces and by men closely linked to a politically and economically bankrupt past”.