Italians divided over Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy

Italy held a state funeral Wednesday for billionaire media tycoon-turned-scandal-tainted prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that proved as polarizing in death as it was in life.

More than 2,000 people – family, friends, political and business associates and rivals – packed Milan’s Gothic Duomo to pay their respects to the man il cavaliere (The Knight), a nickname that stuck, Berlusconi offered to relinquish a knighthood – awarded to him for entrepreneurship in 1997 – following his conviction for tax fraud in 2013.

Giant screens, usually reserved for World Cup finals, were set up outside the main piazza in Berlusconi’s hometown of Milan, where thousands braved the sweltering heat to watch the funeral, some shouting “Silvio, Silvio” and others playing football. -Stadium chants honor their hero.

The funeral was also attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad.

“Through light and shadow, he shaped the history of our country throughout my life,” said Chiara Ghirso, a 40-year-old marketing professional who came to honor him. “He was the first person I voted for when I was 18; He represented the moderate-liberal camp that never existed in post-war Italy.

Berlusconi, whose centre-right party Forza Italia is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, died on Monday at the age of 86 after battling leukemia. His afterlife was long planned, as he commissioned a prominent sculptor in the 1990s to build a marble mausoleum in the garden of his villa, containing 32 burial places for himself, family and close friends .

Yet the politician credited with “Americanizing” Italian politics was active to the end, making a failed bid for the presidency and last year planning to topple the government of former prime minister Mario Draghi – and Meloni’s right-wing coalition. was playing an essential role in bringing it to life.

Before the funeral, Meloni paid tribute to the leader who first gave him the ministerial post in 2008.

“Berlusconi prevented post-communists from taking power in Italy just a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “He was a formidable defender of our national interest and our productive and social order.”

But his government’s declaration of a day of national mourning has sparked criticism and anger, given his tumultuous history.

Center-left former minister Rosie Bindi said, “This is only happening because he was a supporter of the people who are in power today.”

In life, Berlusconi was the subject of more than 30 criminal investigations—many of which he defeated either by changing the laws or by dragging the proceedings beyond the statute of limitations.

He was forced out of office in 2011 at the peak of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, amid scandals over “Banga Banga parties” involving underage girls, although he was recently cleared of criminal wrongdoing in relation to those festivities. was freed.

Many Italians are still dismayed by Berlusconi’s erosion of public morals. Milan resident Prospero Giuliani, 60, called it “shocking” that someone “completely lacking moral stature who despised women and was convicted of tax fraud” was given a state funeral. Was.

Outside the cathedral, however, fans and flag-waving fans of AC Milan – the football team he owned for years – expressed nostalgia for the feisty politician known for his irrepressible self-belief and offbeat jokes.

Anna Rigoni, 80, a longtime Forza Italia activist, wearing a gray T-shirt covered in party pins, said she wanted to show “all my gratitude” by calling Berlusconi “the victim of a witch hunt”.

Michelangelo Gerardi, 37, a former carabinieri now confined to a wheelchair, waited for hours in the heat for a glimpse of the coffin. “He was a great man who cared about the less fortunate like me,” he added.

Alex Di Bella, 37, born in the year Berlusconi bought AC Milan, said his love for the club has turned him into a Forza Italia voter. “My family are left-wing voters but how can I let my club boss down,” Di Bella said while wearing the club’s jersey.

Elsewhere, young people who had not known a time without Berlusconi on the public stage were more defiant of his legacy.

At a bar in Rome’s trendy Appio Latino neighborhood, 28-year-old teacher Livia Montalesi said that “women like my grandmother saw her as a sex symbol” but she was less impressed.

He said, “He treated the country like a business and did not work in the interest of anyone except himself.” “He had to set an example, but he failed. He took everything he could without giving back.

Human resources professional Simona De Falco, 26, said Berlusconi appealed to Italian men, who admired his success in business and his way with women.

De Falco said, “The people who voted for him wanted to be like him.” “He was the classic toxic guy who got the money, got the women. At that time his manhood found fertile ground. Today, it would be less like this.

Giorgio Bellobono, a 32-year-old Milan-based IT consultant, complained that Berlusconi had done little with his power to reinvigorate the Italian economy, leaving it in a dire state, with few job opportunities for young people. , even a decade after leaving power .

Bellobono said, “My generation will have a mixed – even harsh – memory of Berlusconi.” “He was one of the main contributors to the uncertainty and uncertain circumstances he faced.”

Italy held a state funeral Wednesday for billionaire media tycoon-turned-scandal-tainted prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that proved as polarizing in death as it was in life.

More than 2,000 people – family, friends, political and business associates and rivals – packed Milan’s Gothic Duomo to pay their respects to the man il cavaliere (The Knight), a nickname that stuck, Berlusconi offered to relinquish a knighthood – awarded to him for entrepreneurship in 1997 – following his conviction for tax fraud in 2013.

Giant screens, usually reserved for World Cup finals, were set up outside the main piazza in Berlusconi’s hometown of Milan, where thousands braved the sweltering heat to watch the funeral, some shouting “Silvio, Silvio” and others playing football. -Stadium chants honor their hero.

The funeral was also attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad.

“Through light and shadow, he shaped the history of our country throughout my life,” said Chiara Ghirso, a 40-year-old marketing professional who came to honor him. “He was the first person I voted for when I was 18; He represented the moderate-liberal camp that never existed in post-war Italy.

Berlusconi, whose centre-right party Forza Italia is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, died on Monday at the age of 86 after battling leukemia. His afterlife was long planned, as he commissioned a prominent sculptor in the 1990s to build a marble mausoleum in the garden of his villa, containing 32 burial places for himself, family and close friends .

Yet the politician credited with “Americanizing” Italian politics was active to the end, making a failed bid for the presidency and last year planning to topple the government of former prime minister Mario Draghi – and Meloni’s right-wing coalition. was playing an essential role in bringing it to life.

Before the funeral, Meloni paid tribute to the leader who first gave him the ministerial post in 2008.

“Berlusconi prevented post-communists from taking power in Italy just a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “He was a formidable defender of our national interest and our productive and social order.”

But his government’s declaration of a day of national mourning has sparked criticism and anger, given his tumultuous history.

Center-left former minister Rosie Bindi said, “This is only happening because he was a supporter of the people who are in power today.”

In life, Berlusconi was the subject of more than 30 criminal investigations—many of which he defeated either by changing the laws or by dragging the proceedings beyond the statute of limitations.

He was forced out of office in 2011 at the peak of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, amid scandals over “Banga Banga parties” involving underage girls, although he was recently cleared of criminal wrongdoing in relation to those festivities. was freed.

Many Italians are still dismayed by Berlusconi’s erosion of public morals. Milan resident Prospero Giuliani, 60, called it “shocking” that someone “completely lacking moral stature who despised women and was convicted of tax fraud” was given a state funeral. Was.

Outside the cathedral, however, fans and flag-waving fans of AC Milan – the football team he owned for years – expressed nostalgia for the feisty politician known for his irrepressible self-belief and offbeat jokes.

Anna Rigoni, 80, a longtime Forza Italia activist, wearing a gray T-shirt covered in party pins, said she wanted to show “all my gratitude” by calling Berlusconi “the victim of a witch hunt”.

Michelangelo Gerardi, 37, a former carabinieri now confined to a wheelchair, waited for hours in the heat for a glimpse of the coffin. “He was a great man who cared about the less fortunate like me,” he added.

Alex Di Bella, 37, born in the year Berlusconi bought AC Milan, said his love for the club has turned him into a Forza Italia voter. “My family are left-wing voters but how can I let my club boss down,” Di Bella said while wearing the club’s jersey.

Elsewhere, young people who had not known a time without Berlusconi on the public stage were more defiant of his legacy.

At a bar in Rome’s trendy Appio Latino neighborhood, 28-year-old teacher Livia Montalesi said that “women like my grandmother saw her as a sex symbol” but she was less impressed.

He said, “He treated the country like a business and did not work in the interest of anyone except himself.” “He had to set an example, but he failed. He took everything he could without giving back.

Human resources professional Simona De Falco, 26, said Berlusconi appealed to Italian men, who admired his success in business and his way with women.

De Falco said, “The people who voted for him wanted to be like him.” “He was the classic toxic guy who got the money, got the women. At that time his manhood found fertile ground. Today, it would be less like this.

Giorgio Bellobono, a 32-year-old Milan-based IT consultant, complained that Berlusconi had done little with his power to reinvigorate the Italian economy, leaving it in a dire state, with few job opportunities for young people. , even a decade after leaving power .

Bellobono said, “My generation will have a mixed – even harsh – memory of Berlusconi.” “He was one of the main contributors to the uncertainty and uncertain circumstances he faced.”