Silvio Berlusconi, three times elected as Prime Minister in Italy, has died this Monday at the age of 86. His death ends an era that has politically defined Italy in recent decades, a figure who extended his influence to the media, where he built an empire that underpinned his leadership.

nicknamed ‘Il Cavaliere‘, Berlusconi was involved in a thousand scandals, becoming disqualified after being convicted in 2013 for prostitution of minors and abuse of authority, being acquitted in 2014.

The former prime minister also had sex for money with Ruby when she was a minor, being caught at parties held at her house, orgies in his house in Sardinia.

His scandals led to his divorce with his second wife, Veronica Lario, who accompanied him in his many meetings with Vladimir Putineven in a Crimea that the Russian president illegally annexed.

Until his last days, Berlusconi boasted of his friendship with Putin, acknowledging have received gifts of the Russian president.

Giorgia Meloni has mourned the death of Berlusconi and an era of one of the most influential men in the country. “For him, we will achieve the objectives that we had set ourselves together. Goodbye, Silvio,” she wrote on her Twitter account.

Wednesday will be the day of his funeral.a day of official mourning throughout the country, where the flags are already flying at half mast at the headquarters of the Government and in the Senate.