Erminia Giuliano (; born 31 December 1955) is a former member of the

Giuliano clan The Giuliano clan is a powerful Neapolitan Camorra clan originating in the Forcella district of Naples. History The clan was founded by Pio Vittorio Giuliano (1926 - September 27, 2009), known as ''‘o padrino'' in the early post-war years, pri ...

of the

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

, based in the district of Forcella,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Her nickname was ''Celeste'' ("Sky-blue") on account of her bright, blue eyes., The Independent, 26 December 2000Deadlier than the male
, The Scotsman, 29 May 2002

Taking over the Giuliano clan

She took over the Giuliano clan crime business after the arrest of her brother Luigi Giuliano in early 2000, who was the last of the five male family members to be arrested. Luigi would eventually become a

pentito ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

in September 2002 and testify against various Camorra figures, including members of his own clan.Arrestata lady camorra: «Prima devo pettinarmi»
Corriere della Sera, 24 December 2000 She became the boss because the only direct male heir to the family business still unimprisoned, Giuliano's nephew Pio Vittorio Giuliano, was deemed inept.
New York Times, 11 January 2001 She was ranked as one of Italy's 30 most dangerous criminals, and eventually arrested on 23 December 2000, after being a fugitive for over 10 months.'Mob queen' found in cupboard
BBC News, 24 December 2000 Her speciality within the clan was counterfeiting banknotes.

Personality

She had a violent streak: if bored as a young woman, she would say: "I have to shoot someone." She allegedly stabbed a rival female gang leader in 1997, and drove a car into the shop window of another enemy in 1999. One high-profile friend was the football star

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

when he played for

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. The Giuliano clan’s interests included drugs and illegal betting on football matches. Carmine, one of Erminia's brothers, said later that Maradona would do anything for cocaine, even if Napoli lost the Italian championship.

Arrest

Police raided her daughter's house in the Forcella quarter of Naples shortly after midnight and found her in a secret room concealed behind a kitchen cupboard and a sliding wall panel. "She was a true leader, with all the qualities usually associated with crime godfathers," according to the Naples police chief, Carlo Gualdi.Deadly rise of girl power with guns
The Guardian, 6 January 2001 She insisted on a shower and visit from her hairdresser before she donned high heels, a fake leopard-skin coat and handcuffs, and told her daughters: "I'm counting on you now. I am relaxed. I have taught you all the true values in life."

Release

Since her release from prison, Erminia Giuliano has lived in

Formia Formia (ancient Formiae) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean , Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way. Mythology According to the mythology the city was f ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. In 2019, the Italian State seized her assets due to a patrimonial issue regarding to a mafia-type criminal conspiracy sentence that she was convicted in the past.

Taking over the Giuliano clan

Personality

Arrest

Release

See also

Notes

Further reading