His doctors express “cautious optimism”. Still in intensive care since April 5, Silvio Berlusconi began his treatment with chemotherapy in a famous hospital in Milan.
[Mise à jour le 7 avril 2023 à 14h55] The state of health of Silvio Berlusconi is followed very closely in Italy. These doctors claim to have seen during “these last forty-eight hours a progressive and stable improvement in the monitoring of organic functions.”
The former Italian Prime Minister is still being treated in an intensive care unit in a hospital in Milan since April 7, 2023. Health professionals believe that the treatment has “the expected effects, which allows us to express a cautious optimism”.
The former head of government has a string of health problems and the whole country has been following his comings and goings to the hospital for months. While the 86-year-old man had already been taken care of in a health establishment for three days at the end of March, he had to be hospitalized in an emergency on Wednesday April 5. “The Immortal” has started chemotherapy to treat chronic leukemia, as reported by the Corriere della Serawhich reflects a critical situation on the medical level.
The Italian media, which cover this news continuously, reported that his daughter Marina, his son Luigi and his brother Paolo had come to his bedside at Saint Raphael Hospital in Milan, one of the most prestigious medical establishments of the “Boot”. His wife Marta Fascina, younger than her 53-year-old husband, was also spotted in Milan.
Silvio Berlusconi has leukemia common to people his age according to the Ansa news agency. She adds that the chosen therapy is minimally invasive.
An official communication quickly shaken
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, from the Forza Italia party founded by the “Cavaliere”, confided on April 7, at the microphone of Rai Uno, to be confident that he had met his doctor: “He told me that Silvio Berlusconi had passed a quiet night and that his condition was stable”. But a few hours later, this version was opposed to the press release from Berlusconi’s doctors, who made public “chronic myelomonocytic leukemia which he has suffered for some time”. A close friend of Berlusconi, Vittorio Sgarbi, Deputy Minister of Culture, reacted to this announcement: “We are all very concerned. I hope he will have the strength to resist this last blow which has a sinister name, the leukemia”.
The Ansa press agency, via sources around him, revealed that Berlusconi’s chemotherapy began on Wednesday April 5 in order to fight against this leukemia. Last Thursday, after the last hospitalization, Berlusconi said he was in good shape. Giorgia Meloni, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, sent him this message of support on Twitter: “A sincere and affectionate wish for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi, hospitalized at San Raffaele in Milan. Come on, Silvio.” The leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia group is at the head of a coalition of which Forza Italia, Berlusconi’s party, is a member.
Berlusconi chained health concerns
Silvio Berlusconi had also been hospitalized in January 2022, for a serious urinary tract infection which had prompted his doctors to have him undergo a series of heavy treatments. In September 2020, he had contracted Covid 19 and developed bilateral pneumonia. In June 2016, he had also been operated on the aortic valve, in an open heart operation. After almost 30 years of political career, “the caiman” hardly appears in public anymore in the face of these many health concerns.
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Short biography of Silvio Berlusconi – Silvio Berlusconi quickly showed his talents as a businessman and created a huge financial group, Fininvest, in 1977. He then built a veritable media empire and invested in many sectors (banking, insurance, football, distribution). It was in 1994 that he decided to get into politics by creating the Forza Italia party. The latter wasted no time in allying himself with right-wing and far-right parties. Leading this coalition, which won the legislative elections, Berlusconi found himself President of the Council, a position from which he had to resign in December 1994. However, the man did not let go and, despite the convictions for corruption, he always tried to strengthen his left. His new right-wing coalition, the House of Liberties, emerged victorious from the legislative elections of 2001 and brought him to power in June. The ultra-liberal policy that he leads is still tainted by the legal proceedings against Fininvest. After a temporary resignation, he formed a new government but lost the 2006 parliamentary elections, against Romano Prodi (left). He returned to power once again in 2008. A new scandal, the “Rubygate” pushed him aside once again in 2011. However, his influence remains major in Italian political life since his party is now a member of the coalition at the head of Italy.
Silvio Berlusconi: key dates
- September 26, 1968: Launch of the Milano 2 real estate project
- Via his company Edilnord, Silvio Berlusconi achieves his first great successes of his career by developing important luxury districts in the Milan periphery such as Milano 2 and also Brughiero. The very heavy financial arrangements to bear for a young entrepreneur under the age of 30 create suspicion about the source of the funds necessary for these projects.
- February 20, 1985: Berlusconi becomes president of AC Milan
- After a salvo of 12 presidents in 20 years, the famous Lombard football club is taking a new turn in its rich history. The sports structure is close to bankruptcy. Silvio Berlusconi undertakes to cover the club’s 7 billion debts. After more than 30 years of reign, the billionaire sells AC Milan to the consortium of Chinese investors Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux for 740 million euros. Under Berlusconi’s governance, the club notably won 5 Champions League and 8 Italian championships. 8 players win the Ballon d’Or in this period.
- February 20, 1986: First issue of La Cinq
- Launched by the Italian tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, the first French private general-interest channel begins its programming at 8:30 p.m. The channel will stop broadcasting on April 12, 1992.
- April 12, 1992: End of programs on La Cin
- The private television channel disappears live after employees, including star presenter Jean-Claude Bourret, counted down. Created in 1986 by the Italian communications magnate Silvio Berlusconi, then taken over by the Hachette group, La Cinq filed for bankruptcy a few weeks before definitively ceasing to broadcast.
- June 11, 2001: Berlusconi takes over as head of his second government
- Already elected to the legislative elections of 1994 but having been forced to resign, Silvio Berlusconi takes over the reins of the Italian government. He was then at the head of the House of Liberties coalition which included his party, Forza Italia, the National Alliance and the Northern League. Despite the few political crises that mark his career, he will remain in place until 2005, leading the longest government of the post-war period. Abandoned by his centrist allies, he will resign on July 20, which will not really be effective since he will resume his duties a few days later. Berlusconi will finally lose the 2006 elections, against Romano Prodi’s Unione.
- June 24, 2013: Conviction in the “Rubygate” trial
- The Milan court delivers its verdict: Silvio Berlusconi is sentenced to 7 years in prison and life ineligibility for “abuse of power under duress” and “incitement to prostitution”. He is accused of having priced a sexual relationship with Karima El-Mahroug (better known under the pseudonym “Ruby Robacuori”, the heart thief) then 17 years old at the time of the facts. The statesman then put pressure on the police to obtain the release of the young girl by passing her off as the niece of Hosni Mubarak, then president of Egypt. Berlusconi was finally acquitted in February 2023 thanks to the classification of the payments as compensation for damage to reputation and not for sexual relations.