she convinced her father not to sell Mediaset, many see her as an heir also in politics – Corriere.it

his is the name articulated in Piazza Duomo, while the father’s coffin is about to leave on its last journey and, in the churchyard, five brothers and only one head of the family remain. The crowd screams: Marina, Marina, Marina. Everyone knows that Silvio Berlusconi
and the eldest daughter spoke at least three times a day; everyone remembers that, every time her father was under attack, she was the one who took the field and defended him in the newspapers. And an hour earlier, when Marina had arrived in the Duomo hand in hand with Martha Fascinathanks to that gesture, everyone understood that Silvio’s almost wife was to be considered family and with the rank of widow. Everyone knows that what Marina thinks, says and does what her father would have thought, said and done.

The two political pacts

And here are the political pacts between now and the Europeans, which everyone is talking about. The one with Tajani with his announcement on Marina who reaffirmed the closeness of the family to Forza Italia. Or the pact for the status quo hypothesized by some between Giorgia Meloni and Marina, with the latter guarantor for the party and the premier vigilant on hostile takeovers to Mediaset.

Born twice

Somehow, Marina must have been in the eyes of the father, the daughter who was born twice. The first for her on 10 August 1966 from her marriage to Carla Elvira Dall’Oglio, the second for her when, at just 31 years old, convinces him not to sell Mediaset to Rupert Murdoch. And she convinces him despite the fact that his second wife, Veronica Lario, was in favor. That’s the day she was born Marina the heiress, Marina the Tsarina, Marina the pneumatic hammer, as Fedele Confalonieri would say. If there is a before and after in her life that day in March 1998 in which she tells Daniele Manca and Corriere della Sera I was strongly against the sale and with my brother Pier Silvio we fought and opposed the sale. That’s the moment she publicly takes responsibility for running the businesses her father built and that she kept him from divesting despite conflict-of-interest pressures. It’s time to, without Berlusconi father, Mediaset is coveted by other groupswe also need to re-read that passage in which Marina explained that that had been a life choice: having lots of dad’s money but nothing to build, or having lots of money from dad and spending it around the world, two hypotheses that didn’t interest her.

Saleswoman in London

The girl has an iron character, perhaps forged from an early age, when, like her brother Pier Silvio, she endured a season as a prisoner abroad or a prisoner at home with her tutors, for fear of kidnappings. Marina then graduated from classical high school, enrolled in Law, then in Political Science, but she will leave her studies, work as a salesgirl in London, and it will not be a question of inconclusiveness: many remember her at 19, when her father begins to invite her at group meetings and she always comes first and jots down every word with her head down. In 1996, he became vice president of Fininvest, since 2005 president of the family holding company and since 2003 he has also led Mondadori.

Father’s defender

She hadn’t been pleased that her father entered politics in ’94, but she has always defended him ever since. In the beginning, from the conflict of interest (a problem that doesn’t exist; a blunt weapon that the left used obsessively. Then, on the papal trials, talking about ad personam prosecutors and persecution. Once, he said of Carlo De Benedetti , on the Lodo Mondadori, that he was just envious of his father. Another, to a journalist who asked her about the merits of the father, replied how many pages do I get.

Strong words

Then, when in 2009 the news enters the private life of Berlusconi father at a straight leg and talks about his divorce, a sort of Dynasty and the first girls or virgins who offer themselves to the dragon to quote Veronica Lario, Marina complains about the too much gossip and gives an interview toCourier
to say that the twenty thousand people who work in the group deserve more respect. He adds: To define what they tried to do to my father, only two adjectives come to mind: unworthy and shameful.

Heir of charisma

For her precise and ruthless outings, for years many have identified her as a possible political heir and also one with charismatic leadership. This despite Berlusconi repeating that he would never want his children to suffer what he had suffered. She has always rejected the hypothesis, except in 2014: Nothing can ever be excluded in life. So, tomorrow, if it happens, politics, who knows…. Meanwhile, it is said that she will decide whether to run for the seat left empty by her father will be one of the family, perhaps her younger brother Luigi, perhaps uncle Paolo, and that she will be the last word on the European lists. On the other hand, it was also said that she was behind the latest reorganization of the party and the downsizing of Licia Ronzulli.

Testament puzzle

Marina married to Maurice Vanadiaprincipal dancer of La Scala and son of a Sicilian-Piedmontese working-class family, they have two sons: Gabriele, born in 2002, and Silvio, born in 2004. Having a husband and children like my own is the greatest fortune of my life, he once said. Family comes first and, these days, she is interpreting her father’s wishes: not to let companies die n Forza Italia. The opening of the will will tell how much he cared about the Marina factor and how much he wanted to protect her role as boss, in the family and in the company and, perhaps, also in politics.

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