New stamp issued on Berlusconi's birthday.

Italy has issued a postage stamp in honour of the late four-time former prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi who died last year aged 86.

The Italian postal service unveiled the stamp on Sunday 29 September, the birthday of Berlusconi, a controversial and divisive figure who dominated public life in Italy for decades.

There were 350,000 copies issued of the €1.25 stamp which shows a smiling Berlusconi against a backdrop of the flags of Italy and the European Union, along with "1936-2023" and "Italia". 

The Italian government, of which Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia is a coalition partner, approved the initiative last year following his death.

Emesso oggi dal Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy un #francobollo commemorativo di Silvio Berlusconi, imprenditore e uomo di Stato, quattro volte Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri.@ipzs @mimit_gov

Visita la sezione #Filatelia del nostro sito:… pic.twitter.com/pRZvvD2nvg

— Poste Italiane (@PosteItaliane) September 29, 2024

In a statement released after news of the stamp was first announced, Forza Italia said it was a "fitting recognition of a great Italian who served and honoured the Republic in all the roles he held: entrepreneur, sportsman, political leader and statesman". 

Berlusconi is among around a dozen figures being commemorated with stamps in Italy this year, including radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi on the 150th anniversary of his birth, Saint Thomas Aquinas on the 750th anniversary of his death, and opera composer Giacomo Puccini on the centenary of his death.

The release of the Berlusconi stamp comes days after Milan city council voted to appeal against the government's contentious decision to rename Malpensa airport in honour of the late premier.