Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister and leader of the Forza Italia party, has been diagnosed with leukemia, it was confirmed on Thursday. 'I sent him bottles of Lambrusco': Italy's Berlusconi boasts about friendship with Putin in leaked audio The controversial media tycoon has served three stints as Italy’s prime minister, most recently between 2008 and 2011, before being banned from politics for six years following a conviction for tax fraud. Berlusconi returned to frontline politics in 2022 when he won a seat in Italy’s Senate, representing the northern municipality of Monza