Biography
Born in Bologna, Lario was a stage actress under Enrico Maria Salerno, with whom she had a love affair. She also worked in theatrical plays with well-known actors; Her most famous role is in Tenebrae by horror master Dario Argento. She retired from acting after meeting Silvio Berlusconi.
Married on 15 December 1990, Berlusconi and Lario have three children together: Barbara Berlusconi (1984), [2] Eleonora (1986), and Luigi (1988). In the 1980s, before the birth of their first-born daughter Barbara, Lario terminated an earlier pregnancy with an induced abortion, in order not to give birth to a child affected by significant morbidity. [3]
As the wife of the Italian premier, Veronica Lario chose to maintain a low public profile. She avoided most public events and meetings and she seldom accompanied her husband Silvio Berlusconi at official meetings. On the other hand, she was known to publicly express political opinions contrasting with those of her then-husband (for example, on bioethics or in backing protesters demonstrating against the war in Iraq [4] ).
Lario's husband was never shy about mentioning her on public occasions, and he alluded at least once to a supposed affair between her and philosopher and opposition politician Massimo Cacciari. [5]
On 31 January 2007, Lario said her dignity had been damaged by comments Berlusconi reportedly made during the VIP party after a TV awards ceremony broadcast by one of his channels.
"If I weren't married I would marry you immediately," the 70-year-old media mogul told showgirl and future parliamentarian Mara Carfagna, according to reports widely carried in the Italian press. He reportedly told another, "With you, I'd go anywhere."
Lario's letter appeared in La Repubblica , a nationally prominent newspaper. She declared:
I see these statements as damaging my dignity. To both my husband and the public man, I therefore demand a public apology, since I haven't received any privately. I have faced the inevitable contrasts and the more painful moments that a long conjugal relation entails with respect and discretion.
"Now I write to state my reaction," added Lario, saying her husband's comments were "unacceptable" and could not be reduced to mere jokes.
But after a few hours, Silvio Berlusconi responded with a public letter to his wife and apologized for what he had said three days earlier.
In April 2009 she once more published an open letter, criticising her husband for consorting with young ladies [6] and defining his chosen candidates for the European Parliament as "shameless rubbish".
On 3 May 2009 it was reported that she was to file for divorce, [7] [8] which under Italian law can only be started after a couple has reached a separation agreement. On 10 May 2010 it was revealed that a separation settlement had been reached, with Berlusconi accepting alimony payments of €3.6 million per year, and allowing her to live in their luxury home near Milan. [9]
In December 2012, a Milan court established that Silvio Berlusconi would be required to pay his ex-wife Veronica Lario €3 million a month (€36 million a year). [10]
In 2015 on 23 June 2015, the Court of Justice of Milan established that Silvio Berlusconi would pay his ex-wife €1.4 million a month.
Finally in 2017, on 16 November, the Court of Appeal of Milan decided that Silvio Berlusconi will not have to pay the €1.4 million per month to his ex-wife, who has been ordered to give back the amounts she received since 2014: approximately €60 million. [11]
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013; a member of the Senate of the Republic from 2022 until his death in 2023, and previously from March to November 2013; and a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2022, and previously from 1999 to 2001. With a net worth of US$6.8 billion as of June 2023, Berlusconi was the third-wealthiest person in Italy at the time of his death.
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo, and Arnoldo Mondadori Editore as a leftist newspaper, which proclaimed itself a "newspaper-party". During the early years of la Repubblica, its political views and readership ranged from the reformist left to the extraparliamentary left. Into the 21st century, it is identified with centre-left politics, and was known for its anti-Berlusconism, and Silvio Berlusconi's personal scorn for the paper.
Trials and allegations involving Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) have been extensive and include abuse of office, bribery and corruption of police officers, judges and politicians, collusion, defamation, embezzlement, extortion, false accounting, mafia, money laundering, perjury, tax fraud, underage prostitution influence and witness tampering.
David Mackenzie Donald Mills is a British corporate lawyer who specialises in international work for Italian companies. He was accused of money-laundering and alleged tax fraud involving Silvio Berlusconi; he was convicted in first instance and on appeal, but the conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court of Cassation.
Giovanni "Gianni" Letta is an Italian journalist and politician. He was a close advisor of Silvio Berlusconi and is a member of the advisory board of Goldman Sachs International.
Maria Rosaria "Rosy" Bindi is an Italian politician and the former president of the Antimafia Commission. She began her political career in Christian Democracy (DC), becoming a member of the European Parliament in 1989. After the dissolution of the DC, she joined the centre-left-leaning Italian People's Party (PPI) in 1994 and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL) in 2002.
Elisabetta Canalis is an Italian actress and showgirl.
Daniela Garnero, commonly known by her former married name as Daniela Santanchè, is an Italian politician. Between 2010 and 2011 she served as Undersecretary to the Ministry for the Implementation of the Government Program in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. She is currently the regional coordinator of Brothers of Italy in Lombardy and the Minister of Tourism in the Meloni Cabinet.
Maria Elvira "Marina" Berlusconi is an Italian businesswoman. She is the chairwoman of the holding company Fininvest and the publishing company Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the latter being the biggest publishing company in Italy. She is the oldest daughter of businessman and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The People of Freedom was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including Forza Italia and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later transformed into a party during a party congress on 27–29 March 2009. The party's leading members included Angelino Alfano, Renato Schifani, Renato Brunetta, Roberto Formigoni, Maurizio Sacconi, Maurizio Gasparri, Mariastella Gelmini, Antonio Martino, Giancarlo Galan, Maurizio Lupi, Gaetano Quagliariello, Daniela Santanchè, Sandro Bondi, and Raffaele Fitto.
Maria Rosaria "Mara" Carfagna is an Italian politician and former showgirl and model. After obtaining a degree in law, Carfagna worked for several years on Italian television shows and as a model. She later entered politics and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Forza Italia party in 2006. From 2008 to 2011, she served as Minister for Equal Opportunity in Berlusconi IV Cabinet. In 2018 she was elected vice president of the Chamber of Deputies. In 2021, she has become the Minister for the South and territorial cohesion in the cabinet presided by Mario Draghi.
Fabrizio Maria Corona is an Italian entrepreneur and playboy.
Silvio Berlusconi, then the Prime Minister of Italy, was accused and initially convicted of paying 17-year-old Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, also known by the stage name Ruby Rubacuori, for sexual services between February and May 2010 when she was under the age of 18; he was found not guilty on appeal. He was found not guilty on appeal also, formerly convicted of malfeasance in office by arranging to have El Mahroug released from police detention during an incident in which she was briefly held on claims of theft. On 24 June 2013, the Court of First Instance sentenced Berlusconi to seven years in prison, and banned him from public office for life. Berlusconi appealed the sentence, and on 18 July 2014, an appeals court overturned Berlusconi's conviction, thus making him once again eligible to hold elected office.
La vedova e il piedipiatti is an Italian television series directed by Mario Landi and consisting of six episodes. It stars Ave Ninchi, Enrico Papa and Veronica Lario and it was one of the last RAI productions shot in black and white.
Paolo Berlusconi is an Italian businessman. He is the younger brother of the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. He is the publisher of the newspaper Il Giornale and the head of the investment group Paolo Berlusconi Finanzaria.
Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) was an Italian media mogul and Prime Minister of Italy who owned the largest broadcasting company in that country, Mediaset. His promises to sell off his personal assets to avoid conflicts of interest were never fulfilled, which sparked controversy throughout his terms in office. Berlusconi is a controversial figure in modern Italian politics: his tenure as Prime Minister was racked with scandalous sex affairs and poor judgement and decision-making. These events were widely covered by the media, drawing outcry from many of his Italian contemporaries and worldwide counterparts.
Barbara Berlusconi is an Italian business executive. She is advisor to the board of Fininvest and previously sat on the board of directors of A.C. Milan as vice-chairman and CEO.
Gian Paolo Pillitteri is an Italian former politician, film critic, and journalist. He was affiliated with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). Pillitteri began his political career when the PSI and PSDI were unified. Following the 1969 party split, he joined the PSDI, which at the time was known as the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU), before it became the PSDI in 1971.
1993 is an Italian political drama television series created by Alessandro Fabbri, Ludovica Rampoldi, Stefano Sardo for Sky Atlantic, and based on an idea by Stefano Accorsi. A sequel to the 2015 series 1992, it premiered on 16 May 2017 on pay-tv Sky Italia channels Sky Atlantic and Sky Cinema 1.
Loro is a 2018 drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino, starring Toni Servillo. The film talks about the group of businessmen and politicians – the Loro (Them) from the title – who live and act near to media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi.
