Chronicles of Events and Biographies Related to the American Mafia
Ralph Capone Sr. was born on January 12, 1894 in Angri, Italy. He was one of nine siblings born to Gabriel and Teresa Capone, and the older brother to Al “Scarface” Capone, future boss of the Chicago outfit. Ralph, his brother Vincenzo, and his mother arrived in the United States at Ellis Island on June…
Alphonse Gabriel “Al Capone” led Chicago’s Mafia during its Prohibition heyday, rising from obscurity as a Brooklyn tough to become the best-known mobster in America. Capone’s empire encompassed illegal liquor, gambling and prostitution in Chicago during the 1920s. He reaped a reputation among many as the most violent man in the country while convincing others…
The Chicago Outfit is that city’s branch of the American Mafia. Its modern organization dates to the beer wars of Prohibition and its most notorious leader, Al Capone. It has a seat, along with the Five Families of New York City, on the Commission that governs the Italian mob in America. The Outfit’s roots reach…
“Machine Gun” Jack McGurn was an Italian-American born in Licata, Sicily population 39,000 on July 2, 1902. His birth name was Vincenzo Gibaldi; however he had other variations such as Vincent Gebardi, and Vincenzo Demory. At four years old he and his mother, Giuseppa Verderame, just 24 years old according to the ships manifest arrived…
Meyer Lansky, one of the great Jewish mobsters, ran gambling in much of the United States and helped build the National Crime Syndicate that ran organized crime in the 1930s and ‘40s. He was known as the “Mob’s accountant,” and he ranks as one of the most powerful gangsters in history. Lansky, a Jewish immigrant,…
Giovanni “Papa Johnny” Torrio ran Chicago’s Mafia in the 1920s, building it from a prostitution racket into an illegal liquor empire. His feud with Irish-American bootleggers led to the worst violence in the history of American organized crime and paved the way for Al Capone. Later in his life, Torrio helped create the Commission that…
Most discussions of Prohibition-era mob bosses focus on Al Capone, Johnny Torrio and Joe Masseria, the kingpins who thrived off booze and blood. Less remembered, but equally important was Frankie Yale, a murderous leader who straddled two underworlds and played a key part in the early Mafia. Francesco Ioele, also known as Frankie Uale and…
Francesco Raffaele Nitto, better known as Frank Nitti or “The Enforcer”, followed Al Capone as leader of the Chicago Outfit in the years after Prohibition. He was boss more in name than fact, but he left a major stamp on the city’s Mafia organization by the time he killed himself to avoid prison time. Frank…
Giacomo “Big Jim” Colosimo was an Italian immigrant Mafioso who got his start as a pickpocket and went on to build the Chicago Outfit, that city’s version of the American mob. He did it by pulling together a coalition of street thugs, pimps and extortionists to build a racket that has dominated organized crime in…