MILAN – The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi died at the age of 86 after prolonged illness, reported the country’s leading news agency, Ansa.
The leader of Forza Italia, a political party, was admitted to the Milan hospital on Friday for medical tests for his previously undisclosed chronic leukemia.
He was shifted to the hospital nearly a month after he spent six weeks days there for treatment for a lung infection related to the leukemia. He also remained in intensive care unit for 16 days.
The flamboyant politician led three Italian governments between 1994 and 2011. His party Forza Italia has slim partnership in current government.
He managed to make a political comeback in 2017 despite facing sex scandals, countless allegations of corruption and a tax fraud conviction in his career.
Born in Milan in 1936 to a middle-class family, the former Italian PM started his career in property development before establishing Mediaset, a leading media outlet. He also owned AC Milan football club between 1986 and 2017.
