Italian mafia: history of appearance, names and surnames

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Hardly anyone today has not heard of the mafia. In the middle of the nineteenth century, this word entered the dictionary of the Italian language. It is known that in 1866 the authorities knew about the mafia, or at least what was called by this word. The British Consul in Silicia reported to his homeland that he constantly witnesses the activities of the mafia, which maintains links with criminals and owns large sums of money…

The word "mafia" most likely has Arabic roots and comes from the word: mu`afah. It has many meanings, but none of them comes close to the phenomenon that soon came to be called the "mafia". But there is another hypothesis for the spread of this word in Italy. Allegedly, this happened during the uprisings of 1282. There were civil unrest in Sicily. They went down in history as the Sicilian Vespers. During the protests, one cry was born, which was quickly picked up by the protesters, it sounded like this: “Death to France! Breathe Italy! If amake an abbreviation in Italian from the first letters of the words, it will sound like "MAFIA".

The first mafia organization in Italy

Determining the origins of this phenomenon is much more difficult than the etymology of the word. Many historians who have studied the mafia say that the first organization was created in the seventeenth century. In those days, secret societies were popular, which were created to fight the Holy Roman Empire. Others believe that the sources of the mafia as a mass phenomenon should be sought at the throne of the Bourbons. Because it was they who used the services of unreliable persons and robbers, who did not require large remuneration for their work, in order to patrol parts of the city that were distinguished by increased criminal activity. The reason that the criminal elements in the service of the government were content with little and did not have large salaries was that they took bribes so that the violation of the laws did not become known to the king.

Maybe Gabelloti was the first?

The third, but no less popular hypothesis of the appearance of the mafia points to the Gabelloti organization, which acted as a kind of intermediary between the peasants and the people who owned the land. The Gabelloti representatives were also obliged to collect tribute. History is silent about how people were selected for this organization. But all those who ended up in the bosom of Gabelloti were dishonest. Soon they created a separate caste with their own laws and codes. The structure was informal, but it had a colossal influence in Italiansociety.

None of the theories above have been proven. But each is built on one common element - a huge distance between the Sicilians and the government, which they considered imposed, unjust and alien, and, naturally, they wanted to remove.

How did the mafia start?

In those days, the Sicilian peasant had absolutely no rights. He felt humiliated in his own state. Most ordinary people worked on latifundia - enterprises owned by large feudal lords. Work on the latifundia was hard and low-paid physical labor.

The dissatisfaction with power was spinning like a spiral that was supposed to go off one day. And so it happened: the authorities ceased to cope with their duties. And the people chose a new government. Positions such as amici (friend) and uomini d`onore (people of honor) became popular, becoming local judges and kings.

Honest Bandits

An interesting fact about the Italian mafia is found in Brydon Patrick's book Journey to Sicily and M alta, which was written in 1773. The author writes: “The bandits have become the most respected people on the whole island. They had noble and even romantic goals. These bandits had their own code of honor, and those who violated it died instantly. They were loyal and unprincipled. To kill a person for a Sicilian bandit means nothing if the person had guilt behind his soul.”

Words said by Patrick are relevant to this day. However, not everyone knowsthat once Italy almost got rid of the mafia once and for all. This happened during the reign of Mussolini. The head of the police fought the mafia with its own weapons. The government knew no mercy. And just like the mafiosi, she didn't hesitate to shoot.

World War II and the rise of the Mafia

Perhaps if the Second World War had not started, we would not be talking about such a phenomenon as the mafia now. But, ironically, the landing of the Americans in Sicily equalized the forces. For the Americans, the mafia became the only source of information about the location and strength of Mussolini's troops. For the mafiosi themselves, cooperation with the Americans practically guaranteed freedom of action on the island after the end of the war.

We read about similar arguments in the book “The Great Godfather” by Vito Bruschini: “The Mafia had the support of allies, so it was in their hands that the distribution of humanitarian aid - a variety of food products. For example, in Palermo, food was delivered on the basis that five hundred thousand people live there. But since the majority of the population moved to a more peaceful countryside near the city, the mafia had every opportunity to bring the remaining humanitarian aid after distribution to the black market.”

Help the mafia in the war

Since the mafia practiced a variety of sabotage against the authorities in peacetime, with the outbreak of war, it continued such activities more actively. History knows at least one documented case of sabotage, when the Goering tank brigade, which was stationed at the Nazi base, refueled with water and oil. ATAs a result, the engines of the tanks burned out, and instead of the front, the vehicles ended up in workshops.

Post-war

After the allies occupied the island, the influence of the mafia only increased. "Intelligent criminals" were often appointed to the military government. In order not to be unfounded, here are the statistics: out of 66 towns, the main ones in 62 were people from the underworld. The further flourishing of the mafia was associated with the investment of previously laundered money in business and its increase in connection with the sale of drugs.

Italian mafia style

Each member of the mafia understood that his activity was fraught with risk, so he made sure that his family did not live in poverty in the event of the death of the "breadwinner".

In society, mafiosi are very severely punished for ties with the police, and even more so for cooperation. A person was not accepted into the mafia circle if he had a relative from the police. And for appearing in public places with a representative of law and order, they could be killed. Interestingly, both alcoholism and drug addiction were not welcomed in the family. Despite this, many mafiosi were fond of both, the temptation was too great.

The Italian mafia is very punctual. Being late is considered bad manners and disrespectful to colleagues. During meetings with enemies, it is forbidden to kill anyone. They say about the Italian mafia that even if families are at war with each other, they do not seek cruel reprisals against competitors and often sign peace agreements.

Italian mafia laws

Another law thathonors the Italian mafia - the family is above all, no lies among their own. If a lie was uttered in response to a question, it was believed that the person had betrayed the family. The rule, of course, is not without meaning, because it made cooperation within the mafia safer. But not everyone adhered to it. And where big money was spinning, betrayal was almost a mandatory attribute of a relationship.

Only the boss of the Italian mafia could allow members of his group (family) to rob, kill or loot. Visiting bars without an urgent need was not welcomed. After all, a drunk mafioso could blurt out too much about the family.

Vendetta: blood feud for the family

Vendetta - revenge for breaking family rules or betrayal. Each group had its own ritual, some of them are striking in their cruelty. It did not manifest itself in torture or terrible murder weapons, as a rule, the victim was killed quickly. But after death, they could do anything with the body of the offender. And they usually did.

It is curious that information about the laws of the mafia as a whole became public only in 2007, when the father of the Italian mafia, Salvatore La Piccola, fell into the hands of the police. Among the financial documents of the boss of "Cosa Nostra" was found the charter of the family.

Italian mafia: names that went down in history

How not to remember Charles Luciano, who is associated with drug trafficking and a network of brothels? Or, for example, Frank Costello, who had the nickname "Prime Minister"? Italian mafia surnames are known all over the world. Especially afterHollywood filmed several stories about gangsters at once. It is not known which of what is shown on the big screens is true and which is fiction, but it is thanks to films that today it is almost possible to romanticize the image of the Italian mafia. By the way, the Italian mafia likes to give nicknames to all its members. Some choose their own. But the nickname is always associated with the history or character traits of the mafiosi.

The names of the Italian mafia are, as a rule, the bosses who dominated the whole family, that is, they achieved the greatest success in this hard work. Most of the gangsters who did the dirty work, the stories are unknown. The Italian mafia exists to this day, although most Italians turn a blind eye to this. Fighting it now, when the twenty-first century is in the yard, is practically pointless. Sometimes the police still manage to catch the "big fish" on the hook, but most mafiosi die of natural causes in old age or are killed by a gun in their youth.

New "star" among mafiosi

Italian mafia operates under cover of obscurity. Interesting facts about her are very rare, because Italian law enforcement agencies are already experiencing problems in order to learn at least something about the actions of the mafia. Sometimes they are lucky, and unexpected or even sensational information becomes public knowledge.

Despite the fact that most people, having heard the words "Italian mafia", remember the famous Cosa Nostra or, for example, the Camorra, the most influential and cruel clan is"Ndrangenta". Back in the fifties, the group expanded beyond its own area, but until recently remained in the shadow of its larger competitors. How it happened that 80% of the drug trafficking of the entire European Union was in the hands of the 'Ndrangenta - the gangsters themselves are also surprised. The Italian mafia "Ndrangenta" has an annual income of 53 billion.

There is a myth very popular among gangsters that the 'Ndrangentha has aristocratic roots. Allegedly, the syndicate was founded by the Spanish knights, who had the goal of avenging the honor of their sister. Legend has it that the knights punished the culprit, while they themselves were imprisoned for 30 years. In it they spent 29 years 11 months and 29 days. One of the knights, once free, founded the mafia. Some continue the story with the assertion that the other two brothers are just the bosses of Cosa Nostra and Camorra. Everyone understands that this is just a legend, but it is a symbol that the Italian mafia appreciates and recognizes the connection between families and adheres to the rules.

Mafia hierarchy

The most revered and authoritative title sounds something like "boss of all Bosses". It is known that at least one mafioso had such a title - his name was Matteo Denaro. The second in the hierarchy of the mafia is the title of "king - boss of all bosses." It is awarded to the boss of all families when he retires. This title does not carry privileges, it is a tribute. In third place is the title of the head of a single family - don. Don's first consultant, his righthand, bears the title of "advisor". He has no authority to influence the state of affairs, but the don listens to his opinion.

Next comes the deputy don - formally the second person in the group. In fact, he comes after the adviser. Kapo is a man of honor, more precisely, the captain of such people. They are mafia soldiers. As a rule, one family has up to fifty soldiers.

And finally, the little man is the last title. These people are not yet part of the mafia, but they want to become one, so they carry out small tasks for the family. Youths of honor are those who are friends for the mafia. For example, these are officials who take bribes, dependent bankers, corrupt police officers and the like.