Three weeks ago Silvio Berlusconi shows his mischievous smile as he leaves the hospital in Milan. Today he succumbs to his cancer.
He was one of the most controversial personalities of the Italian political scene. Berlusconi was a media entrepreneur, a billionaire, at times the owner of the AC Milan football club, and involved in any number of scandals. Despite all this, the Italian people loved Silvio Berlusconi. Three times they re-elected him as prime minister - despite or because of his affairs. The older the politician got, the younger his girlfriends became.
For many decades Berlusconi shaped life in Italy
Between 1994 and 2011, Silvio Berlusconi was re-elected Prime Minister of Italy three times. The Italian people accepted all his affairs, scandals, his involvement in tax fraud and the "bunga bunga" affair with a smile. That's just how Silvio Berlusconi is.
He was elected to the Italian Senate again last year and his party, Forza Italia, is currently in coalition with the ultra-right governing party under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Italian PM was more than bunga-bunga
One could also give his life the subtitle - his life was three things: television, women and politics. Silvio Berlusconi was almost an institution in Italian politics. He stands for Berlusconismo - which stands for the modern form of populism.
Few people know that Berlusconi studied law and graduated Cum Laude (particularly good). He was a big businessman in the media and construction industries. Guarantor of many jobs and sustenance for many Italian families.
When billionaires overshoot
The older Berlusconi got, the more sex affairs and orgies in his life come to light. Although he has been married twice and has five biological children, he is involved in countless sex scandals. Unlike TV presenter Phillip Schofield, he makes no secret of his affairs. The so-called Bunga Bunga affair or Ruby affair of 2010 were all over the news.
Here, Italy's super-rich, including Berlusconi, are said to have had sex parties with prostitutes, some of whom were underage. There is no conviction in the actual case, but he is convicted of witness bribery in 2017.
His preference for very young women
In September 2022, the press is astonished when Silvio Berlusconi shows up at the ballot box with a woman who could be the twin sister of Lady Gaga. Who is this pretty blonde?
She is actually Italian politician Marta Fascina and has been in a love affair with Berlusconi since 2020. The 33-year-old belongs to the same Forza Italia party as her boyfriend. She seems to be his biggest fan and something more than that.
The symbolic wedding of Monza
Freddy Quinn wants to marry again at the age of 91. According to the Italian media, Berlusconi will only say "I do" in a symbolic wedding in Monza, a town in Lombardy, in March 2022. Why doesn't a real wedding take place?
Berlusconi has already been divorced twice and was quick to put an end to speculation.
Now the young southern Italian must carry on without the charismatic politician, perhaps in his spirit.
