Veronica Lario
Encyclopedia
Veronica Lario is a former Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 actress, ex wife of former Italian Prime Minister
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...

 Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

, although she has filed for legal separation, which is the first step towards divorce in Italian law.

Biography

Born in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, Lario was an actress in low budget films. She also worked in theatrical plays with well-known actors; she retired from acting after meeting Silvio Berlusconi.

Married on 15 December 1990, Berlusconi and Lario have three children together: Barbara (1984), Eleonora (1986), and Luigi (1988). In the 80s, before the birth of the first-born daughter Barbara, Lario terminated an earlier pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

 with an induced abortion, in order not to give birth to a child affected by significant morbidity.

As the wife of the Italian premier, Veronica Lario has chosen to maintain a low public profile. She has avoided most public events and meetings and she seldom accompanies her husband Silvio Berlusconi at official meetings. On the other hand, she has been known to have publicly expressed political opinions contrasting with those of her husband (for example, on bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....

 or in backing for protesters demonstrating against the war in Iraq).

Lario's husband was never shy about mentioning her on public occasions, and he has alluded at least once to a supposed affair between her and opposition politician Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is an Italian philosopher and politician.Born in Venice, Massimo Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua , where he also received his doctorate, writing a thesis on Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Judgment." In 1985, he became professor of Aesthetics at the...

.

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
Mara Carfagna
Maria Rosaria Carfagna is an Italian politician and former showgirl and topless 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...

, 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
La Repubblica
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...

, a left-leaning newspaper fiercely opposed to the conservative Berlusconi. 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 few hours, Silvio Berlusconi wrote back a public letter to his wife and apologized for what he had said three days before.

In April 2009 she once more published an open letter, criticising her husband for consorting with young ladies and defining his chosen candidates for the European Parliament as "shameless rubbish".

On 3 May 2009 it was reported that she is to file for divorce, 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 €3.5 million per year, and allowing her to live in their luxury home near Milan.
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