Calogero Bagarella (; 14 January 1935 – 10 December 1969) was an Italian criminal and member of the
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 ...
. He was from the town of
Corleone
Corleone (; or ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily.
Many Sicilian Mafia, Mafia bosses both in Sicily and the United States have come from the town of Corleone, inclu ...
and belonged to the Mafia clan of
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 wer ...
.
Biography
Calogero Bagarella was born in
Corleone
Corleone (; or ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily.
Many Sicilian Mafia, Mafia bosses both in Sicily and the United States have come from the town of Corleone, inclu ...
to a family of Mafiosi that gave Cosa Nostra various affiliates. He was the second son of Salvatore Bagarella and Lucia Mondello, who moved to the town of Corleone after marriage. Salvatore Bagarella was sent to confinement in
Northern Italy
Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...
from 1963 to 1968 for Mafia-related crimes. His mother was forced to work from home to support the family, while the children went to school. As a boy, Calogero worked at a mill with his childhood friend
Bernardo Provenzano.
From the second half of the 1950s, Calogero Bagarella became affiliated with the Corleonesi clan headed by the doctor,
Michele Navarra, and was a lieutenant of Navarra's right-hand man
Luciano Leggio, along with Bernardo Provenzano and
Salvatore Riina. From 1958 to 1963, Bagarella fought in the internal clan war against his former boss, Michele Navarra.
[ Zingales, ''Provenzano: il re di cosa nostra '', p. 162]
On 10 December 1969, Bagarella was killed in an attack on Mafia boss
Michele Cavataio, the boss of the Acquasanta quarter in the Viale Lazio in
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 ...
, known as the
Viale Lazio massacre.
[Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 104][Mafia Boss Provenzano Accused of 1969 Palermo Murders]
Bloomberg, 29 November 2007 He was part of a Mafia hit-squad consisting of Bernardo Provenzano, Emanuele D’Agostino, and
Gaetano Grado of
Stefano Bontade’s Santa Maria di Gesù Family and Damiano Caruso, a soldier of
Giuseppe Di Cristina, the Mafia boss of
Riesi.
[Servadio, ''Mafioso'', p. 228-30]
References
Books
*
* Servadio, Gaia (1976), ''Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day'', London: Secker & Warburg
*
Stille, Alexander (1995). ''
Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage
* Zingales, Leone (2001).
Provenzano: il re di cosa nostra: la vera storia dell'ultimo "padrino"', Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagarella, Calegero
1935 births
1969 deaths
Sicilian mafiosi
Corleonesi
Murdered Mafiosi
Deaths by firearm in Italy