Silvio Berlusconi

About Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi was a dominant and highly controversial figure in Italian politics and media for decades. Serving four terms as Prime Minister of Italy between 1994 and 2011, he was the longest-serving post-war prime minister. His influence stemmed not only from his political career but also from his vast business empire, which included significant control over Italian commercial television, making him a crucial case study in the intersection of media, business, and governance in a modern democracy. This extensive impact earns him a Historical Popularity Index (HPI) rank of #507 among the most influential historical figures tracked by MIT's Pantheon project.

In terms of modern online attention, Berlusconi garners approximately 713K annualized Wikipedia views for 2025. This level of attention is relatively aligned with his historical importance, reflected in his approximate 1x Attention Gap. For contrast, a contemporary politician like Xi Jinping ranks significantly lower in historical importance (#719) but captures over 4.0M annual views, suggesting that current political power often translates to a much larger digital footprint than that of past, albeit established, leaders.

Despite his recent passing in 2023, his 2025 view trend shows a slight decrease of -0.5% year-over-year, and his momentum between Q1 and Q3 was flat at 0%. This indicates that while his historical rank is secure, the immediate, day-to-day digital curiosity surrounding him has stabilized post-mortem.