Former Italian PM and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi dies aged 86

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has died aged 86 after suffering from serious health problems that kept him in hospital over the last few months. He was firsthospitalised for a lung infection in 2020 after contracting COVID-19.

Defence MinisterGuido Crosetto took to Twitter to mourn Berlusconi's death and said his departure amounted to the end of an era.

"I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio," Crosetto said.

Having been at the centre of Rome's power corridor, not once but thrice, Berlusconi had become extremely frail during the last essay of his life. He was diagnosed with persistentleukaemia and admitted toMilan’s San Raffaele Hospital earlier this year. According to reports he died in the same hospital on Monday morning.

Despite a career tainted by the infamous 'bunga-bunga' sex parties,Berlusconi, nicknamed Il Cavaliere (The Knight), remained one of Italy's most flamboyant politicians.

Berlusconi's death comes a month after he gave his firstpublic address since being hospitalised.Delivering a video message to his Forza Italia party members, Berlusconi said he was ready to get back to work.

“Here I am, here for you, wearing a shirt and jacket for the first time in a month," said the 86-year-old billionaire media mogul in a pre-recorded video.

"I never stopped, not even in the past few weeks. worked on the party's new structure and I'm ready to return to work with you and fight alongside you our fights for freedom," he added.

According to Italian media reports, the video was filmedafter Berlusconi was not allowed to leave the hospital by doctors and relatives as he would have tried to attend the party's two-day convention in Milan.

The genesis

Born in 1936 to a middle-class family, Berlusconi's rise to power is a story that should inspire most, if it is not for his unconventional life choices. As the owner of broadcasting giant Mediaset, he first entered the world of media in 1973 by setting up a small cable television company called TeleMilano.

The channel would later evolve into Canale 5 as Berlusconi bought two more channels before moving his operations to central Milan and broadcasting over the airwaves. This move would eventually pave the way for his modern-day media mogul status as the owner of Mediaset which would also fuel his political aspirations.

The political life of Berlusconi

Berlusconi founded Italy's centre-right party Forza Italia in the summer of 1994 to beat the 'communists'. His party pioneered the populist brand of politics in the European country and propelled him to the higher echelons of the bureaucracy.

He won the 1994 general election and became the PM for a brief period before fissures within the coalition forced him to vacate the spot.

In 2001, Berlusconi had a second crack at the position and went on tobecome the longest-serving PM in Italy's history since the world war. At the pinnacle of his power, Berlusconi in 2006 declared himself "the Jesus Christ of politics".

The sporting interests of Berlusconi

Apart from his obvious interests, Berlusconi was known for his sporting taste. He owned the decorated Seria A club AC Milan for over three decades before selling it to Chinese investors for $858 million in 2017.

After selling his prized team, Berlusconi went on to buy small Lombardy side AC Monza for an estimated $3.4 million. The club went from playing in the third division of Italian football to playing in Seria A within a five-yeartimespan.

(With inputs from agencies)

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