Because family is at the heart of the Mafia
Swift and ruthless justice was delivered in a broad plaza to the north of Corleone. When Republicans in Sicily revolted, their insurrection was put down violently by King Ferdinand’s military battalions. Several of those involved, including two who survived the crackdown, had ties to one of the earliest documented organized criminal gangs in Corleone… and... Continue Reading →
Research reveals a common ancestor shared by six Mafia wives, two Mafiosi, and one mafia genealogist. I've identified 101 men who are (or were) known to be involved in organized crime in Corleone. I found them using a selection of primary and secondary sources, in combination with genealogical sleuthing around. News reports, trial records, police blotters, and... Continue Reading →
From the “inchino” this spring to the recent dissolution of Corleone’s city council, recent events in Corleone demonstrate the relevance of research into mafia genealogy. Science is cool, but also, sometimes boring. In order to bring some rigor to my work, and quantify some of my hunches, I decided last week that I need a... Continue Reading →
Finding proof of the high rate of cousin marriage in Corleone proves more difficult than expected. In an earlier post, “Kissing Cousins,” I wrote about the high rates of marriage between close relations that have been detected throughout Sicily. Before 1918, dispensation was required for marriages in Sicily, out to the fourth degree of consanguinity, or... Continue Reading →
I’m taking a break from Mafia Genealogy. When I began writing this blog in February, I had only been studying the subject matter for a couple of years, at most. I thought, I know enough to begin, and as for the rest, I’ll grow into it. That strategy worked... for a little while. In order... Continue Reading →
There were three men named Marino, on both sides of the Leggio-Navarra war in Corleone. One is related to two Mafia bosses. In my first post on the relations among defendants at the 1969 Corleonesi trial, I focused on the Leggio-Riina connections. Another set of defendants with a common surname are the Marinos, whose paternal... Continue Reading →
While most of Rapanzino’s gang was exterminated by the police in the mid-1830s, their legacy continues, with a clear line of descent, all the way to the Five Families of New York and the Mafia in Corleone today. The Rapanzino gang of cattle thieves, active in the early 1830s in Palermo province, were closely related... Continue Reading →
There are many undocumented claims made about the relationships between notable mafiosi. One mafia writer who has led me on a merry chase for the mythical relations of Giuseppe Morello is Joe Bruno. In a blog post from 2005, he repeats the legend that Giuseppe had an older brother named Antonio. Antonio Morello was born... Continue Reading →
Sicilian names, first and last, are handed down through the generations. There has probably always been someone named Lucia Marino in Corleone. If we got into a time machine and went back to any of the last 400 years, not only could we meet a Lucia Marino in this town, we could also find a... Continue Reading →
Mafia leadership for the past hundred years in Corleone have all been related to one another, through blood and marriage. Cattle theft in Sicily, before the twentieth century, was like car theft today, in that it was a crime that required a village. A thief who takes a car needs a network of criminals to... Continue Reading →
Mafia Genealogy 