Master of Gaffes: Former PM Berlusconi

LONDON, April 10, 2008 — -- Among the many boasts of Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a fluency in Latin so complete that he could hold a lunchtime conversation with Rome's ancient ruler Julius Ceasar.

Or so he claims.

In an interview with Italian radio RTL, the 71-year-old tycoon, who is running for a third term as prime minister next week, recalled his school days when he was so proficient in Latin that he was often chosen to speak with illustrious guests, including a few cardinals.

This is the same Berlusconi who once reportedly said that "the founders of Rome were Romulus and Remulus," misnaming the legendary twins, Romulus and Remus, who founded the city.

For 10 years, Berlusconi's boasts and verbal fumbles have made headlines in Italy.

Not sated by the publicity he generated, Berlusconi once sent his biography, in the form of a glossy magazine, to every single family in Italy.

Roberto Benigni, the Oscar-winning actor and director of "La Vita è Bella" (Life Is Beautiful), once said: "[Berlusconi] is someone who always wants to be in on the act. He wants to be everywhere. He wants to be the star. There is a meeting, he talks. He goes to a wedding, he wants to be the bridegroom. He goes to a funeral, he wants to be the deceased."

Many surmised that his popularity had more to do with his extravagant remarks, well-known for disrupting the earnest protocols of office, than with his political deeds.

At the start of Italy's EU presidency in July 2003, he told Martin Schulz, German member of the European Parliament, "I know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps. I shall put you forward for the role of Kapo [guard chosen from among the prisoners]. You would be perfect."

During his 2006 electoral campaign, the leader of Italy's right-wing coalition said of left-wing voters, "I trust the intelligence of the Italian people too much to think that there are so many pricks around who would vote against their own best interests."