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Giuseppe Pulvirenti
Giuseppe Pulvirenti (1930 – 2 February 2009) was a Sicilian mafioso who rose to prominence within the Catania Mafia family and was a close associate and trusted lieutenant of Benedetto Santapaola, one of the most influential mafia leaders in Sicily. History Giuseppe Pulvirenti, also known as "''U malpassotu''", was born in Belpasso, a town located on the slopes of Mount Etna. Characterized physically as stocky, with an unkempt beard, shaved head, and a weary demeanor, Pulvirenti led a life steeped in violence and criminal enterprise. During the 1990s, he actively participated in a bloody internal mafia feud that claimed around one hundred lives per year. His criminal activities spanned extortion, murder, drug trafficking, and political corruption. Notably, he orchestrated a large-scale electoral manipulation scheme in 1991 involving multiple political figures, including members of the Italian Republican Party and Christian Democracy. After eleven years in hiding, Pulvirenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Mafia
The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protection and control over land and agriculture, the Mafia gradually evolved into a powerful criminal network. By the mid-20th century, it had infiltrated politics, construction, and finance, later expanding into drug trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes. At its core, the Mafia engages in protection racketeering, arbitrating disputes between criminals, and organizing and overseeing illegal agreements and transactions. The basic group is known as a "Crime family, family", "clan", or ''cosca''. Each family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town, village or neighborhood (''borgata'') of a larger city, in which it operates its Racketeering, rackets. Its members call themselves "Made man, men of honour", although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catania Mafia Family
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] |
Benedetto Santapaola
Benedetto Santapaola (; born 4 June 1938), better known as Nitto, is a prominent Italian mafioso from Catania, the main city and industrial centre on Sicily's east coast. Santapaola was considered one of the most powerful and bloodthirsty mafia bosses in Cosa Nostra until his arrest in 1993. His nickname is ''il Cacciatore'' ("The Hunter") because of his passion for shooting game. Early years Nitto Santapaola was born in the degraded neighbourhood of San Cristoforo, in Catania, into a poor family together with his brothers Salvatore, Antonino, Natale and numerous cousins, such as the Ferrera clan, the Ercolano clan and the Romeo clan, all members or associates of Cosa Nostra, and the future nucleus of the Santapaola-Ercolano Mafia family. At the beginning of the 1960s, Santapaola was introduced by his cousin Francesco Ferrera into the Catania Mafia family, at the time under the command of Giuseppe Calderone. Santapaola's first denunciation was in 1962 for theft and criminal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belpasso
Belpasso () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Catania. Belpasso is the second biggest comune of the Catania's area for area (after Catania). The original town was destroyed by the lava flows from Mount Etna in 1669. Rebuilt in a lower plain, that habitation was known as ''Fenice Moncada''; the latter name derives from the family of the Princes of Paterno who owned the feud. This habitation proved malarial and was heavily damaged by the 1693 Sicily earthquake, causing the spot to be abandoned and named ''Malpasso'', and the present town was founded in 1695 in lands belonging to the Duke of Montalto. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Etna
Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( or ; , or ; ; or ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina, Italy, Messina and Catania. It is located above the Convergent boundary, convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe, and the tallest peak in Italy south of the Alps with a current height (September 2024) of , though this varies with summit eruptions. For instance, in 2021 the southeastern crater reached a height of , but was then surpassed by the Voragine crater after the summer 2024 eruptions. Etna covers an area of with a basal circumference of . This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanism in Italy, active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Teide, Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in the whole of the Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, and its modern incarnation is associated with liberalism, social liberalism, and centrism. The PRI has old roots and a long history that began with a left-wing position, being the heir of the Historical Far Left and claiming descent from the political thought of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. With the rise of the Italian Communist Party and the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) to its left, it was associated with centre-left politics. The early PRI was also known for its anti-clerical, anti-monarchist, republican, and later anti-fascist stances. While maintaining those traits, during the second half of the 20th century the party moved towards the centre on the left–right political spectrum, becoming increasingly economically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy (, DC) was a Christian democratic political party in Italy. The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the nominal successor of the Italian People's Party (1919), Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crusader shield (''scudo crociato''). As a Catholic-inspired, centrist, catch-all party comprising both centre-right and centre-left political factions, the DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for fifty years, and had been part of the government from soon after its inception until its final demise on 16 January 1994 amid the ''Tangentopoli'' scandals. Christian Democrats led the Italian government continuously from 1946 until 1981. The party was nicknamed the "White Whale" () due to its huge organisation and official colour. During its time in government, the Italian Communist Party was the largest opposition party. From 1946 until 1994, the DC was the largest party in the Italian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerveteri
Cerveteri () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Lazio. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern name derives from Caere Vetus used in the 13th century to distinguish it from Caere Novum (the current town). It is the site of an ancient Etruscan city, one of the most important Etruscan cities, with an area more than 15 times larger than today's town. The best-known structures on the site form the Banditaccia Necropolis. Caere was one of the city-states of the Etruscan League and at its height, around 600 BC, its population was perhaps around 25,000 – 40,000 people. Site The ancient city was situated about from the sea, a location that made it a wealthy trading town derived originally from the iron-ore mines in the Tolfa Hills.Karl-Wilhelm Weber: Geschichte der Etrusker, Berlin, Köln, Mainz 1979, , S. 38 It h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2,746,984 residents in , Rome is the list of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, with a population of 4,223,885 residents, is the most populous metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in Italy. Rome metropolitan area, Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber Valley. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under the governance of the Holy See) is an independent country inside the city boun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1930 Births
Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on January 1, 2257, at . * January 26 – The Indian National Congress declares this date as Independence Day, or as the day for Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence). * January 28 – The first patent for a field-effect transistor is granted in the United States, to Julius Edgar Lilienfeld. * January 30 – Pavel Molchanov launches a radiosonde from Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, Slutsk in the Soviet Union. February * February 10 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launch the Yên Bái mutiny in the hope of ending French Indochina, French colonial rule in Vietnam. * February 18 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh confirms the existence of Pluto, a celestial body considered a planet until redefined as a dwarf planet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
