A businessman turned politician, Silvio Berlusconi will be remembered as a protagonist of Italian history.

Never afraid to defend his convictions, but hit hard by a series of scandals that rocked his credibility and damaged his reputation, Berlusconi was for different reasons never far from the limelight in Italy and elsewhere for several decades.

Berlusconi died at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Monday, aged 86. A state funeral will be held today in the same city.

Ambitious, charming and energetic, but also stubborn, pompous and difficult to deal with, Berlusconi’s impact on politics, media and sports was exceptional.

At age 25, he started a construction company and built apartment complexes for middle-class families on Milan's outskirts, part of a post-war boom. But he made a name for himself at a later stage when he launched what was to become his Mediaset empire, which upended the domination of Italian state television Rai, although he was then accused of using his networks to start and maintain his political career.

As owner and president of AC Milan, he took the club to the top of Italian, European and world football, winning 29 trophies in 31 years, including five Champions League titles and eight domestic championships. After selling the club, he took over the presidency of Monza, which he helped take to the top division for the first time in history.

To admirers, the three-time prime minister was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage. To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses, the Associated Press wrote in its news story announcing his death.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described him “above all as a fighter”. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia is the smallest party in Meloni's coalition, and his death is unlikely to have any immediate repercussions on the stability of the government.

But even his political rivals had words of praise for him.

Former Premier Matteo Renzi said: “Many loved him, many hated him. All must recognize that his impact on political life, but also economics, sports and television, has been without precedent."

His first government had collapsed after eight months in 1994. But aided by an aggressive campaign, Berlusconi swept to victory in 2001.

In a country in which governments do not last long, Berlusconi had managed to keep his administration going for five long years until 2006, described as his golden era. During this time, he had raised Italy’s profile mostly through his close friendship with US President George W. Bush.

But his popularity waned and in 2006 Italy was ridiculed as “the sick man of Europe,” with its economy mired in zero growth and its budget deficit rising. Berlusconi lost the general election to Romano Prodi, who at the time had been president of the European Union Commission.

In 2008, he bounced back for what would be his final term as premier. It ended abruptly in 2011, when financial markets lost faith in his ability to keep Italy from succumbing to the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis.

Berlusconi faced myriad criminal cases against him, but most of them ended with a dismissal or a victory on appeal. Only one accusation led to a conviction – a tax fraud case stemming from a sale of movie rights. He was spared prison because of his age (76) and ordered to do community work.

Berlusconi billed himself as a self-made man, saying, “My formula for success is to be found in four words: work, work, work and work.”

Italy will bid him goodbye today, but he will not be forgotten.