Because family is at the heart of the Mafia
Several families of Prohibition-era bootleggers in Rockford, Illinois were related through marriage and their Sicilian origins. When a suitor to one of the Domino girls wouldn't take no for an answer, he resorted to an Old World practice: kidnapping.
One of the first men killed in the Macaroni Wars was Vincenzo Vutera, placed in the Luciano’s business to suppress the opposition during a raid led by Santo “Joseph” Calamia.
To study mafia marriages, first, you need to find the mafiosi. See Part 1 of this series. To study the marriages of Mafia members requires several steps. First, there is the identification of members of a secret, criminal organization. A few, like members of Giuseppe Morello’s family, and the bosses of Corleone, have been written... 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 →
Cousin marriage, and double in-law marriages, reinforced familial bonds among the Fratuzzi of Corleone.
