The death of the senator and former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, protagonist of political life in the country over the last three decades, turns one this Wednesday (12) amid several tributes.
The leader of the conservative Forza Italia (FI) party died at the age of 86, on June 12, 2023, at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, as a result of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
Berlusconi has been remembered in his media empire, in Força Itália and in his family, who will meet again in a private mass.
The channels of his television conglomerate Mediaset will broadcast today, on the occasion of his death anniversary, a special program and the documentary “Caro Presidente, un anno dopo” (“Dear President, one year later”, in free translation) in prime time .
His family will participate in a private mass and lunch in the chapel of the Arcore mansion, on the outskirts of Milan, where the politician's ashes rest.
His closest relatives will be present at the mass, such as his five children and heirs to his multimillion-dollar estate – Pier Silvio, Marina, Bárbara, Luigi and Eleonora – as well as his brother, Paolo, and his last girlfriend, congresswoman Marta Fascina.
Later, the tribute will be shared by Pier Silvio Berlusconi with employees and collaborators of the Mediaset group, another creation of his father.
Berlusconi will also be remembered at a meeting of the FI and in the Italian Parliament, where the leader of his conservative party's group in the Senate, Maurizio Gasparri, will pay tribute to him, as anticipated by President Ignazio la Russa.
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, sent a message to renew his condolences to Berlusconi's children, according to sources at Palazzo do Quirinal.
Trajectory
Berlusconi governed Italy three times, between 1994 and 1995, 2001 and 2006 and 2008 and 2011, and was a senator of the Republic since the end of last year, forming part of the support base of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his long-time ally. date.
A successful businessman in the real estate and media sectors and one of the richest men in the country, Berlusconi holds the record for time in power in the republican era in Italy and still maintained influence in national politics, although decreasing in recent years.
Graduated in law, he built a reputation as a businessman by investing in media, advertising and food companies and in construction.
He established a cable TV channel, Telemilano, which became the Mediaset conglomerate, and also bought one of the country's biggest clubs, Milan, which enjoyed its most successful period under the command of the former prime minister, who sold it in 2017. Currently, he owned Monza, which also competes in Serie A of national football.
Already established as a businessman, Berlusconi took advantage of the “hangover” from Operation Clean Hands, which sank the country's main political parties, and created his own party in 1994, the FI, which would elect him prime minister that same year.
Berlusconi also had his political career marked by legal problems, such as being sentenced to one year of social services for tax fraud in 2013, a sentence that led to the revocation of his senatorial mandate and left him ineligible until 2019.
He was still facing legal proceedings on suspicion of witness tampering in the cases dubbed “Ruby ter”, which were spin-offs of the “Ruby” investigation, in which he was acquitted of charges of prostitution of minors and abuse of power. (HANDLE)
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