Category Archives: Silvio Berlusconi

‘He had a sensitive soul’: inside Silvio Berlusconi’s bizarre art collection

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During the final years of his life, the former Italian premier amassed thousands of ‘mostly worthless’ works from late-night shopping channels. Lucas Vianini became their curator

Lucas Vianini was presenting what he described as “a very suggestive” painting of a grieving Virgin Mary on a late-night shopping channel when the art expert received a call from a keen buyer.

It was not uncommon to receive prank calls when presenting paintings during the live TV auctions. So when the channel’s telephone operator told him that the buyer was called Silvio Berlusconi, he thought it was a joke.

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Silvio Berlusconi heirs weigh up fate of his mostly worthless art collection

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Italian former PM estimated to have spent €20m on artworks, often buying through TV auctions

The heirs of Silvio Berlusconi inherited billions from his empire but now they are faced with a dilemma: what to do with his vast collection of mostly worthless artwork, including paintings of nude women and the Madonna, stored in a warehouse opposite his home near Milan.

The former prime minister, who died in June at the age of 86, reportedly amassed the 25,000 works during the final years of his life, buying the majority from late-night shopping channels in his quest to become a top collector.

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Tony Blair sought to avoid reports of ‘snuggling up’ to Berlusconi, files show

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Envoy urged No 10 to exploit opportunities presented by tycoon’s premiership while ‘holding our noses’, archives reveal

Tony Blair sought to avoid unwelcome headlines suggesting he was “snuggling up” to Silvio Berlusconi by not inviting media lobby correspondents to a UK-Italy summit in Rome, newly released documents reveal.

Before the February 2002 bilateral, Britain’s ambassador to Rome, John Shepherd, told the government it had a “real opportunity” to exploit the Italian prime minister’s “orientations in Europe in support of UK interests, holding our noses and staying alert to the risks as we do”.

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Silvio Berlusconi leaves €100m to partner Marta Fascina in his will

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Three-time Italian prime minister leaves overall control of family holding company to two eldest children

The late Silvio Berlusconi left €100m (£85.4m) to his partner, Marta Fascina, in his will and control of the family holding company, Fininvest, to his two eldest children, a source has confirmed.

The three-time Italian prime minister, who died last month and whose empire is estimated to be worth more than €6bn, also left €100m to his brother, Paolo, and €30m to Marcello Dell’Utri, a former senator with his Forza Italia party who served jail time for association with the mafia.

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Death of Berlusconi turns spotlight on to fortune he left behind

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Billionaire had an estimated wealth of $7.4bn and left no indication of who would take over after his death

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving prime minister since the second world war, was a billionaire who had investments in everything from property and banking to the media and football. His death, at the age of 86, raises questions over the fate of an empire that was closely entwined with a political career that spanned almost three decades.

Berlusconi had an estimated fortune of $7.4bn (£5.8bn) as of April 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But he left no indication, at least not publicly, of who would take over his empire after his death.

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Silvio Berlusconi, scandal-ridden former Italian prime minister, dies aged 86

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Health of flamboyant media tycoon who led three Italian governments had deteriorated in recent years

Allies and critics have paid tribute to the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s longest-serving postwar leader and one of its most divisive, who has died aged 86.

The billionaire media tycoon and former AC Milan owner who entered politics at the head of his own Forza Italia in the 1990s as the traditional parties of the right collapsed led three governments between 1994 and 2011 and succeeded in making a comeback in 2017 despite a career tainted by sex scandals, allegations of corruption and a tax fraud conviction.

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Berlusconi’s death poses challenge for his party and for Meloni

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Italian PM needs a stable Forza Italia but without its longtime leader there are questions over its survival

For better or worse, Silvio Berlusconi held a formidable sway over Italian politics for almost three decades, navigating even his own troubled times with such a finely honed instinct for survival that he left even critics enthralled by his apparent invincibility.

But as his life’s legacy is contemplated, the death of Berlusconi, who was elected prime minister three times, raises questions over the survival of his Forza Italia party and the impact his absence will have on Giorgia Meloni’s ruling government coalition.

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Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi back in hospital

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Eighty-six-year-old readmitted to Milan hospital weeks after long stay linked to chronic leukaemia

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been readmitted to a hospital in Milan for scheduled medical checks, weeks after being discharged after a long stay.

The media tycoon, 86, had left San Raffaele last month after six weeks of treatment for a lung infection linked to a chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects the white blood cells.

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Italy: Silvio Berlusconi released from Milan hospital after six weeks

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Billionaire former prime minister, 86, had been suffering from a lung infection linked to leukaemia

Silvio Berlusconi has been discharged from hospital in Milan, declaring “the nightmare” is over, more than six weeks after the former Italian prime minister was admitted with leukaemia and a lung infection.

“Today, after 45 long days, I finally returned home,” the 86-year-old billionaire media mogul said in a statement after leaving the San Raffaele Hospital on Friday.

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Silvio Berlusconi addresses Forza Italia members from hospital room

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The former Italian prime minister was speaking for the first time since he was hospitalised a month ago

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has given his first address to the public since being hospitalised a month ago, delivering a video message to party members from his hospital room.

“Here I am, here for you, wearing a shirt and jacket for the first time in a month,” the 86-year-old billionaire media mogul said, in a pre-recorded address to a convention of his right-wing Forza Italia party.

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Silvio Berlusconi living with leukaemia for some time, doctor confirms

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Former prime minister, 86, is being treated for lung infection at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been suffering from leukaemia for some time and is in intensive care, his doctor has confirmed.

The 86-year-old was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday, where he is being treated for a lung infection.

This article was amended on 6 April 2023 to correct the type of cancer which Berlusconi overcame in 1997.

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Fleabag producer brings Berlusconi musical to London stage

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‘Fierce, feminist’ show from Francesca Moody is written by former Grange Hill actors Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan and tells an ‘almost true’ story

A musical about Silvio Berlusconi that is described as “Evita on acid”, written by two former Grange Hill stars and features a song called My Weekend With Vladimir is to be staged in London next year.

Entitled Berlusconi, it is billed as an “almost true story” and produced by Francesca Moody who is best known for her success with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag. The musical depicts the three-time former Italian PM on the eve of the verdict in his trial for tax fraud as he looks back on his rise and fall and resolves to write an autobiographical opera. His story is then told through the eyes of three women: Ilda Boccassini, the Milan magistrate known as Ilda the Red who investigated him; Berlusconi’s second wife, the actor Veronica Lario, who left him in 2009 after nearly 20 years of marriage; and the character of a journalist who is based on real people. “It places a fierce feminist lens on him,” said Moody of the musical. “These women are telling their story.”

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Pope prays for ‘unity and peace in Italy’ as Giorgia Meloni takes power

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Country’s first female prime minister leads the most rightwing government since the second world war

Pope Francis offered prayers for “unity and peace in Italy” as Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister, took the helm of the country’s most rightwing government since the second world war.

Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, met the outgoing prime minister, Mario Draghi, for a formal handover ceremony on Sunday. “I did not expect this welcome,” Meloni, 45, said as she was greeted by Draghi, referring to the ceremonial guard. “It’s an emotionally impacting thing.”

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Pilgrims to Mussolini’s birthplace pray that new PM will resurrect a far-right Italy

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In Predappio, supporters celebrate victory of their first female prime minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of a party with neo-fascist origins

Dressed in a black sweater, with “Propaganda” written in bold white letters across the back, Marco, 32, and his two friends had travelled to Predappio from their home in the Marche region to pay their respects at the grave of Benito Mussolini before the impending 100th anniversary of the fascist dictator’s march on Rome.

The ornate Mussolini family crypt, located in the tiny San Cassiano cemetery of the Emilia Romagna town, has attracted thousands of admirers since it reopened on an all-year-round basis in March, with the daily flow increasingly more consistent since the late September general election victory for a coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, which was sworn into government on Saturday.

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Berlusconi said he received vodka from Putin for birthday, reports say

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La Presse agency publishes audio suggesting 20 bottles arrived for 86th birthday after pair ‘re-establish’ ties

Silvio Berlusconi has allegedly said Vladimir Putin gave him 20 bottles of vodka for his birthday after he “re-established” relations with the Russian president.

Berlusconi turned 86 on 29 September, four days after a coalition including his Forza Italia party won the general election.

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Italy: Berlusconi calls Meloni ‘patronising’ and ‘bossy’ as relations fray

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Three-time former PM’s outburst comes as their parties scramble to form a coalition government

Silvio Berlusconi has described Giorgia Meloni, who is poised to become Italy’s prime minister, as “patronising” and “bossy” as the fragile dynamic between the pair unravels as they scramble to form a government.

Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-fascist roots, won the biggest share of the vote in general elections on 25 September, helping to secure the largest majority of any coalition government in Italy since 1994.

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Italy elections: exit polls point to victory for coalition led by far-right Giorgia Meloni

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The leader of the Brothers of Italy party appears set to become country’s first female PM

Italy election results – Live

A coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy is set to form the country’s most rightwing government since the end of the second world war after exit polls gave it a clear majority.

With full results due on Monday, the far-right party leader is set to become Italy’s first female prime minister – and a model for nationalist parties across Europe as she heads one of the EU’s six original member states.

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Italian election 2022: live official results

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Early official results from the Italian interior ministry confirm exit poll suggestions that the rightwing coalition led by Brothers of Italy could win enough seats to form a government

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The vote was triggered when the Five Star Movement abruptly withdrew its support for Mario Draghi’s technocratic government, but an election was due next year in any event.

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Italy: internal rivalry could threaten the stability of a Meloni-led coalition

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Matteo Salvini has described Giorgia Meloni as a ‘pain in the ass’, while Silvio Berlusconi is rumoured to be unsupportive

Giorgia Meloni has spent three decades fighting her way to the top of Italian politics. But despite her political prowess, the 45-year-old from Rome, whose strong will and determination has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, has limited government experience.

If Meloni is confirmed as prime minister over the next few weeks, she will be in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, dealing with mammoth challenges from the energy crisis and high inflation to a possible recession and a winter wave of Covid-19.

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Berlusconi claims Russians ‘pushed’ Putin into Ukraine war

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Italian former PM’s party is part of coalition expected to win Sunday’s general election

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s three-time former prime minister, whose party is forecast to return to government after the general election on Sunday, has sparked a row after defending the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine.

The 85-year-old billionaire told Italian TV that Putin, an old friend of his, was pushed to invade Ukraine by the Russian people and by ministers who wanted Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration replaced with “decent people”.

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