January 28, 2010 Richard Owen in Rome
After the sex scandals, the corruption charges and the controversy over the attack on him in Milan last month Italians this week had yet another reason to talk about Silvio Berlusconi: the mystery of his disappearing and re-appearing hair.Last weekend Mr Berlusconi, 73, who has had hair transplants and cosmetic surgery, attended the wedding of Mariastella Gelmini, his Education Minister, with his tinted receding hairline in place as normal.
On Monday however, when the Prime Minister attended a check up at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan that was ordered by prosecutors investigating the attack, the hair on his forehead had disappeared. He looked bald, pale and tired according to before and after photographs published in the magazine Novella 2000.
By Wednesday, when Mr Berlusconi attended ceremonies in Parliament marking Holocaust Day, the thatch was back together with his ebullience. “Three versions in five days,” said La Repubblica. “A new Berlusconi mystery”.
Even Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by Mr Berlusconi’s brother Paolo, today noted the “mystery of the hair” adding “Now you see it. now you don’t”. It offered no explanation however, and the Prime Minister’s office declined to comment.
Piero Rosati, the surgeon who carried out hair transplants on the Prime Minister in 2004 and 2005, was quoted as suggesting that Mr Berlusconi’s hair had fallen out because of stress. It remains unclear however whether the reappearance of the hair two days later was due to emergency reinsertion of follicles or a toupee.
Mr Berlusconi’s first hair transplant was initially covered up by a bandana which he wore during a summer visit by Tony and Cherie Blair to his Sardinian villa. In that operation hair was transferred from the back of his head.
Mr Berlusconi said afterwards that he felt 25 years younger. “I am very happy to have subjected myself to such pain,” he told reporters. Hair transplants and cosmetic surgery were “a way of showing respect to those who share your life, your family, and to those who expect you to represent them on an international and national stage”.
It is not known whether he had cosmetic surgery during his month’s absence from public view after the Milan attack, in which Massimo Tartaglia, 42, threw a stauette of Milan cathedral at him after a rally.
Milan prosecutors ordered an independent examination of Mr Berlusconi’s injuries as part of their investigation against Mr Tartaglia. The results are due to be handed to prosecutors by February 8. By law if the victim’s injuries last more than 40 days charges of assault carry a heavier penalty.
At the time of the attack doctors at the hospital said that recovery would take 25 days, but Mr Berlusconi’s doctor said that it would take 90 days. Mr Berlusconi returned to work after 37 days with barely any sign of facial injury, giving rise to conspiracy theories — dismissed by his aides — that the assault was staged or exaggerated.
The Prime Minister remains popular despite his involvement with showgirls and escorts, which prompted his wife Veronica Lario to demand a divorce.
He faces regional elections in March which will be a crucial test of his standing after not only the scandals but also his attacks on the judiciary and his continuing attempts to push through Parliament laws which would have the effect of annulling two trials for corruption. The trials were revived in October when his immunity from prosecution was ruled unconstitutional.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7006353.ece
On Monday however, when the Prime Minister attended a check up at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan that was ordered by prosecutors investigating the attack, the hair on his forehead had disappeared. He looked bald, pale and tired according to before and after photographs published in the magazine Novella 2000.
By Wednesday, when Mr Berlusconi attended ceremonies in Parliament marking Holocaust Day, the thatch was back together with his ebullience. “Three versions in five days,” said La Repubblica. “A new Berlusconi mystery”.
Even Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by Mr Berlusconi’s brother Paolo, today noted the “mystery of the hair” adding “Now you see it. now you don’t”. It offered no explanation however, and the Prime Minister’s office declined to comment.
Piero Rosati, the surgeon who carried out hair transplants on the Prime Minister in 2004 and 2005, was quoted as suggesting that Mr Berlusconi’s hair had fallen out because of stress. It remains unclear however whether the reappearance of the hair two days later was due to emergency reinsertion of follicles or a toupee.
Mr Berlusconi’s first hair transplant was initially covered up by a bandana which he wore during a summer visit by Tony and Cherie Blair to his Sardinian villa. In that operation hair was transferred from the back of his head.
Mr Berlusconi said afterwards that he felt 25 years younger. “I am very happy to have subjected myself to such pain,” he told reporters. Hair transplants and cosmetic surgery were “a way of showing respect to those who share your life, your family, and to those who expect you to represent them on an international and national stage”.
It is not known whether he had cosmetic surgery during his month’s absence from public view after the Milan attack, in which Massimo Tartaglia, 42, threw a stauette of Milan cathedral at him after a rally.
Milan prosecutors ordered an independent examination of Mr Berlusconi’s injuries as part of their investigation against Mr Tartaglia. The results are due to be handed to prosecutors by February 8. By law if the victim’s injuries last more than 40 days charges of assault carry a heavier penalty.
At the time of the attack doctors at the hospital said that recovery would take 25 days, but Mr Berlusconi’s doctor said that it would take 90 days. Mr Berlusconi returned to work after 37 days with barely any sign of facial injury, giving rise to conspiracy theories — dismissed by his aides — that the assault was staged or exaggerated.
The Prime Minister remains popular despite his involvement with showgirls and escorts, which prompted his wife Veronica Lario to demand a divorce.
He faces regional elections in March which will be a crucial test of his standing after not only the scandals but also his attacks on the judiciary and his continuing attempts to push through Parliament laws which would have the effect of annulling two trials for corruption. The trials were revived in October when his immunity from prosecution was ruled unconstitutional.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7006353.ece
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