REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico
Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, was reported dead Monday. He was 86.
Berlusconi had been in hospital being treated for blood cancer.
As well as being Italy’s longest-serving PM, he was synonymous with scandal and sex parties.
Silvio Berlusconi, the long-serving former prime minister of Italy whose name became synonymous with scandal, is dead at age 86, reports said Monday.
Italy’s respected Correra della Sera newspaper reported his death on Monday morning. Many other outlets soon followed.
The exact circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. The Associated Press reported that Berlusconi had been admitted to the hospital on Friday for checks related to chronic leukemia.
He had only recently been discharged from a 45-day stay due over leukemia as well as a serious lung infection.
Berlusconi was a dominant figure in Italian politics, serving three terms as its national leader.
He was also dogged by scandal around his personal life, particularly around what became widely known as “bunga bunga” sex parties, which ended up with him being taken to court.
He was still being tried over the parties as recently as February 2023, when he was acquitted of witness tampering. An earlier trial saw him convicted of soliciting a prostitute.
Per an AP report on the February acquittal:
“Berlusconi’s defense described the dinner parties, dating from 2010, as elegant soirees; prosecutors said they were sex-fueled gatherings that women were paid to attend and where witnesses described showgirls stripping provocatively for the then-Italian leader.”