Immigrant Renames His Son After Italy's Prime Minister

ROME, March 24, 2010 -- Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has his followers and his critics; some say you either love him or you hate him. Well, Anthony Boahene certainly seems to love him, so much so that he has named his son after him.

The 36-year-old Ghanaian immigrant, who lives and works in northern Italy, has just renamed his 4-year-old son Silvio Berlusconi Boahene on his Italian legal documents. The sign of obvious adoration has caused quite a stir in the media here.

"I like the way Berlusconi talks, the way he moves," Anthony Boahene told Il Resto del Carlino, a daily newspaper. "He's a great leader and a great person. He's got a lot of style."

Boahene works in a metal-works factory in Modena but originally arrived in Sicily in 2002. He told the paper he immediately fell in love with Italy and its premier. Such love only grew when he received his official residency papers.

When his youngest son left his mother in Accra and came to join the family in Modena last month, Boahene signed him up at the registry office with the full name of "SilvioBerlusconi Boahene."

Boahene said he owed it to Berlusconi as thanks for his Italian residency documents and wanted to give his son a name of a great politician. He had been toying with the names George Bush and Tony Blair but settled on Berlusconi.

The man at the Italian registry office reportedly didn't bat an eyelid when he heard the name but many Italians were amazed to hear the news today. Berlusconi's government has been known to be tough on immigrants.

"I don't know a lot about politics, but I like everything about Berlusconi and owe him my life here," Boahene said.

As for the immigration laws in Italy, Boahene said, "It's OK. Laws have to be respected and that's it. Each country is the same."

Il Giornale, the newspaper that supports Berlusconi and his government, triumphantly printed a photo of the little SilvioBerlusconi with his father on its front page today and declared, "the next Silvio Berlusconi will be black."