Silvio Berlusconi, death one year ago: who was the 4-time Prime Minister between business and politics

(LaPresse) On 12 June 2023, Silvio Berlusconi, the undisputed protagonist of Italian public life for more than 50 years, died at the age of 86 at the San Raffaele Hospital. Politician and entrepreneur, four-time Prime Minister and controversial figure in the history of this country, Berlusconi began his career in the construction sector. In 1975 he founded the financial company Fininvest and in 1993 he created the multimedia production company Mediaset, in which other companies such as Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and Silvio Berlusconi Communications converged. In 1986 he fulfilled his football dream: he bought Milan, bringing the club, under his guidance, 29 trophies in total in 31 years, including 8 championships and 5 Champions Leagues. In 1994 he announced his “descend into the field”, his entry into politics as leader of the new Forza Italia party. In the March elections he won by defeating the left-wing coalition led by Achille Occhetto’s PDS. After the fall of his government due to the withdrawal of support from the League, Berlusconi moved into opposition during the Dini, Prodi and D’Alema governments. He returns to Palazzo Chigi from 2001 to 2006, after having beaten Francesco Rutelli’s Ulivo in politics, and from 2008 to 2011, after founding the Popolo delle Libertà, when he is forced to resign due to the surge in the spread and fears by default that hover over Italy. In foreign policy he has always expressed Atlanticist positions, while cultivating a relationship of strong personal friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2009 he was overwhelmed by the “bunga bunga” scandal and was accused of aiding and abetting child prostitution in the Karima El Marough case. In 2013 he was definitively sentenced to 4 years in prison for tax fraud, the only conviction in 36 trials which always ended with acquittals or prescriptions. Having lost his position as a parliamentarian as a result of the Severino law, Berlusconi returns to Palazzo Madama in 2022 thanks to criminal rehabilitation, after having been elected to the Senate in the ranks of Forza Italia in the elections of that year. Married twice to Carla Elvira Dall’Oglio and Veronica Lario, father of 5 children, Berlusconi was also romantically linked to Francesca Pascale and Marta Fascina.