Former Italian PM; Silvio Berlusconi Has Passed Away

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who transformed Italy’s political and cultural landscape despite avoiding numerous legal and s*x scandals, passed away on Monday at the age of 86, according to his spokesman.

The multibillionaire media mogul was checked into a hospital in Milan on Friday for leukemia-related testing, according to aides.

His admission happened just three weeks after he was released from Milan’s San Raffaele hospital after a six-week stay during which time physicians discovered he had a rare form of blood cancer.

Years of poor health had plagued Berlusconi, from a heart operation in 2016 to a coronavirus hospitalization in 2020. He was rarely seen in public despite being re-elected to the Senate last year.

However, he continued to serve as the formal leader of his right-wing Forza Italia party, which was a minor — and occasionally problematic — member of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Between 1994 and 2011, Berlusconi served as prime minister of Italy three times for a total of nine years, luring voters with promises of prosperity only to be ousted when a debt catastrophe engulfed his nation. Due to his broad TV, newspaper, and sporting interests, however, his influence went far beyond politics, and even in his later years, his playboy antics kept him in the news.

“Silvio Berlusconi made history in this country,” ex-prime minister Matteo Renzi said on Facebook.

“Many loved him, many hated him: everyone today must recognize that his impact on political but also economic, sporting, and television life was unprecedented,” he said.

The survivors of Berlusconi include his 33-year-old lover Marta Fascina, two ex-wives, and five children, some of whom assist in managing his recently reported seven billion-dollar company.

It is too soon to discuss the specifics of his funeral, but Berlusconi constructed a marble mausoleum in the style of a Pharaoh at his property in Arcore, close to Milan, to house his loved ones after they pass away.

May his soul rest in peace, Amen.