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Francesco La Rocca
Francesco "Ciccio" La Rocca (1938 – 22 December 2020) was a notorious Sicilian mafioso and the first capo of the Caltagirone Mafia family, known for his brutal methods, strategic mediation between mafia factions, and influential role in regional criminal and political affairs. History Born in 1938 in San Michele di Ganzaria, in the province of Catania, La Rocca's criminal career began in the 1950s, when he was initiated into the mafia at the age of 18 by Calogero Conti, then head of the Ramacca Mafia family. Initially assigned as a "soldato" in the Mazzarino Mafia family, which is part of the Riesi mandamento, his rise through the ranks was marked by strategic mediation, strict adherence to traditional Cosa Nostra codes, and a brutal reputation. In 1982, after two decades within the Mazzarino Mafia, La Rocca established his own autonomous Mafia family in Caltagirone, closely aligned with the Catania Mafia family, headed by Benedetto Santapaola. Following a violent mafi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Michele Di Ganzaria
San Michele di Ganzaria ( Sicilian: ''San Micheli di Ganzarìa'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about southwest of Catania. The town was settled and historically inhabited by the Arbëreshë community. San Michele di Ganzaria borders the following municipalities: Caltagirone, Mazzarino, Piazza Armerina Piazza Armerina (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Ciazza''; Sicilian: ''Chiazza'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. History The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed ..., San Cono. References External links Official website Arbëresh settlements Cities and towns in Sicily {{Sicily-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caltagirone
Caltagirone (; or ; ) is an inland city and municipality () in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, Southern Italy, about southwest of Catania. It is the fifth most populous municipality of the Metropolitan City, behind Catania, Acireale, Misterbianco and Paternò. Alongside Catania, it is the only town that has a tribunal seat in the former province. Since 1987, the comune has obtained the City title, through a presidential act. After Caltanissetta, it is the second-most populous in Central Sicily. The town is a production center of pottery, particularly maiolica and terra-cotta wares. Contemporary production is more and more oriented to artistic production of ceramics and terra-cotta sculptures. Other activities are mainly related to agriculture (production of grapes, olives, peaches), third-sector activities, light industry and tourism. History The city's name derives from the Arabic (, "castle of otteryjars") – a name that att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raffaele Lombardo
Raffaele Lombardo ; (born 29 October 1950) is an Italian politician. Born in Catania, he was Sicily's president and former member of the European Parliament for the Italian Islands with the Movement for the Autonomies, and has sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. In 2005, Lombardo split off from the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) to form the autonomist Sicilian-based Movement for Autonomy (MpA), after he had accused the UDC leadership of being too centralist. In 2008, he was elected as president of Sicily, obtaining over 65% of the regional votes and defeating Anna Finocchiaro of the Democratic Party (PD). On 31 July 2012, he resigned from the presidency because he was under investigation for external contribution with mafia and pork-barrelling, as it appears that he had relationships with some figure of Cosa Nostra. Nevertheless, in the following elections he managed to have his 23 years old son Toti elected in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. After a long and distinguished career, culminating in the Maxi Trial in 1986–1987, on 23 May 1992, Falcone was assassinated by the Corleonesi Mafia in the Capaci bombing, on the A29 motorway near the town of Capaci. His life parallels that of his close friend Paolo Borsellino. They both spent their early years in the same neighbourhood in Palermo. Though many of their childhood friends grew up in an environment in which the Mafia had a strong presence, both men fought against organised crime as prosecuting magistrates.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', pp. 22–27 They were both killed in 1992, a few weeks apart. In recognition of their tireless effort and sacrifice during the anti-mafia trials, they were both awarded the Gold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurizio Di Gati
Maurizio Di Gati (; born July 10, 1966, in Racalmuto) is a Sicilian mafioso and considered to be the boss of the Agrigento province before his arrest in November 2006. Background Di Gati was born in Racalmuto, in the province of Agrigento, the hometown of the famous Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia. He became a barber. However, when in 1991 his elder brother Diego Di Gati was killed in a vendetta with a rival mafia-like group, the Stidda, he decided to become a ' man of honour' to avenge his brother.Agrigento, arrestato latitante pluriomicida La Sicilia, November 26, 2006 , Agrigentonotizie.it, November 26, 2006 According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonino Calderone
Antonino Calderone (24 October 193510 January 2013) was a Sicilian Mafioso who turned state witness (''pentito'') in 1987 after his arrest in 1986. Antonino was born in Catania, the brother of Giuseppe Calderone, the boss of the local Mafia. Antonino's memoirs, ''Men of Dishonor: Inside the Sicilian Mafia'', were published in 1992 with Antimafia sociologist Pino Arlacchi and are considered a handbook for understanding Cosa Nostra and the life of a mafioso. It was translated into many languages. Mafia career According to Antonino Calderone, the first Mafia family in Catania was started by Antonio Saitta, in 1925. He had been prosecuted by Mussolini’s ''Iron Prefect'', Cesare Mori. One of his daughters was the mother of Giuseppe and Antonino Calderone. Another uncle had helped the Mafia get back on its feet after World War II, organizing the black market in contraband cigarettes. Antonino Calderone, narrating his initiation ritual in Catania in 1962, recalls that he was s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano (; 31 January 1933 – 13 July 2016) was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia clan known as the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone, and ''de facto'' the boss of bosses ("''il capo dei capi''"). His nickname was ''Binnu u tratturi'' ( Sicilian for "Bernie the tractor") because, in the words of one informant, "he mows people down".Profile: Bernardo Provenzano , BBC News, 11 April 2006. Another nickname was ''il ragioniere'' ("the accountant"), due to his apparently subtle and low-key approach to running his crime empire, at least in contrast to some of his more violent predecessors. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Totò Riina
Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called Totò ( sicilian diminutive of Salvatore), was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s with the assassinations of Antimafia Commission prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, resulting in widespread public outcry, legal change and a major crackdown by the authorities. He was also known by the nicknames ''la belva'' ("the beast") and ''il capo dei capi'' (Sicilian: '''u capu di 'i capi'', "the boss of bosses"). Riina succeeded Luciano Leggio as head of the Corleonesi criminal organisation in the mid-1970s and achieved dominance through a campaign of violence, which caused police to target his rivals. Riina had been a fugitive since the late 1960s after he was indicted on a murder charge. He was less vulnerable to law enforcement's reaction to his methods, as the policing removed many of the established chiefs who ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella. Corleonesi affiliates were not restricted to mafiosi of Corleone. During the Second Mafia War in the early 1980s, the Corleonesi clan opposed the faction of the Palermitans represented, among others, by Gaetano Badalamenti, Stefano Bontate and Salvatore Inzerillo. The victory of the Corleonesi, and in particular the rise of Totò Riina, marked a new era in the history of the Sicilian Mafia. Between 1992 and 1993, the Corleonesi initiated a season of attacks against the state, followed by the State-Mafia Pact. History Beginnings In February 1971, the Corleonesi clan's first boss, Luciano Leggio, ordered the kidnapping for extortion of Antonino Caruso, son of the industrialist Giacomo Caruso, and also that of the son of the builder Francesco Vassallo in Paler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in Isla Palermo 734 BC by the Phoenicians as ("flower"). Palermo then became a possession of Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Two ancient Greeks, Greek ancient Greek colonization, colonies were established, known collectively as ; the Carthaginians used this name on their coins after the 5th centuryBC. As , the town became part of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, Empire for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under History of Islam in south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catania Mafia Clan
The Catania Mafia family, currently also referred to as the Santapaola-Ercolano Mafia clan, is a crime family of the Cosa Nostra that dominates organized crime activities in the city of Catania and its province. The Catania Mafia quietly evolved into one of the most powerful and violent factions within the Cosa Nostra. Rooted in family ties and political connections, the organization emerged from the shadows in the mid-20th century under the leadership of Giuseppe Calderone, only to become a militarized empire under his former ally and eventual successor, Benedetto Santapaola. What began as a local effort to control gambling dens and extort businesses soon escalated into a ruthless criminal dynasty, whose influence reached deep into the economic and institutional fabric of Catania. Today, the Catania Mafia remains a powerful force, still controlled by the Santapaola-Ercolano clan. The organization has adapted to modern times, maintaining influence through extortion, drug trafficki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agrigento
Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden age of Ancient Greece. The city flourished under Theron's leadership in the 5th century BC, marked by ambitious public works and the construction of renowned temples. Despite periods of dormancy during the Punic Wars, Agrigento emerged as one of Sicily's largest cities in the Republican era. During the Principate, Agrigento's strategic port and diverse economic ventures, including sulfur mining, trade and agriculture, sustained its importance throughout the high and late Empire. Economic prosperity persisted in the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, but excavations show decline in activity after the 7th century. Agrigento is also the place of birth to several notable personalities, among which it is worth to mention Empedocles (5th century BC), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
