Silvio Berlusconi, the media magnate who ruled Italy for nine years, died at the age of 86 from leukemia, his entourage told AFP on Monday.
Nicknamed “the immortal” for his longevity in politics, the senator and businessman, who has profoundly marked the political landscape of his country, was again admitted on Friday to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan where he stayed from multiple times.
On April 5, the billionaire had already been hospitalized for six weeks in this prestigious establishment to treat a state of weakness linked to a lung infection, but his doctors had revealed that he suffered from chronic leukemia.
He had addressed his supporters for the first time in early May, in a video message, from his hospital room, seated behind a desk with the party banner and the Italian flag behind him.
The journey of this eternal ghost, whose political death has been wrongly announced many times, merges with the Italian history of the last thirty years.
Prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011, he was a senator and president of his right-wing party, Forza Italia, a minor partner in the coalition government of far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Football fan Silvio Berlusconi chaired AC Milan for 31 years, which won the Champions League five times under his era, before selling in 2017 to Chinese investors. He was also the owner of the Monza club.
His career has also been marred by scandals and legal issues, which over the past decade have focused on proceedings related to his infamous “Bunga Bunga” sex parties.