Nicola Gentile
Nicola Gentile | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | November 6, 1966 | (aged 81)
Other names | Zu Cola |
Known for | Writing memoirs about his time in the Mafia |
Allegiance | Sicilian Mafia |
Nicola Gentile (Italian pronunciation:
Arrival in the United States
Gentile immigrated to the United States in 1903, where he quickly associated with the
During
Gentile left for Sicily soon after, but not before he met with his New York allies. He decided to align himself against New York mafia bosses
After several months in Sicily, Gentile returned to the United States. Mauro and Valenti had been gunned down by Masseria forces in 1922, ending the conflict and making Joe Masseria one of the top mafia bosses in New York. Gentile continued his criminal career in New York now aligning himself with the group of
Return to Sicily
In Sicily, Gentile rose to a high-level position in the Sicilian Mafia. His power and influence grew after the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 (
Gentile claimed to have been approached by U.S. special agent Max Brod to support the monarchy in the referendum on June 2, 1946.[8][9] Later, he became an important canvasser for politicians from the Christian Democrat party (Democrazia Cristiana, DC), who quarrelled for his support.[2] Gentile later supported Christian Democrat Giuseppe La Loggia, who would become president of the autonomous region of Sicily from 1956 to 1958.[10]
When Lucky Luciano was extradited to Italy in 1946, he once again teamed up with Gentile in organizing drug routes to the US. Gentile had very good connections with well-known drug traffickers in Sicily. His son was married to the daughter of Pietro Davì, one of the leading figures in cigarette smuggling and illicit drug trade in Palermo in the 1950s.[2] Gentile and Luciano met New York gangster Joe Biondo in 1949.[2] Biondo supervised the Gambino Family's heroin traffic.[11] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gentile continued to remain a prominent figure in the Sicilian underworld. He was erroneously believed by some to have replaced Calogero Vizzini as the head of the Sicilian Mafia.[12]
During the 1960s, Gentile provided information to the
Memoirs
In 1963 Gentile wrote down his memoirs, "Vita Di Capomafia", with the help of Italian journalist Felice Chilanti. The long forgotten book described the internal organization of the Mafia, or "l'onorata società" (the Honoured Society) as Gentile called it, more than 20 years before Tommaso Buscetta emerged as the important first pentito who broke with omertà and told Cosa Nostra's inside story. Gentile was already more explicit than Buscetta in his first confessions. Gentile undiffidently talked about his links with politicians for whom he acted as a canvasser.[10]
According to crime reporter
Gentile's fellow mafiosi did not appreciate his candor and sentenced him to death, but the
Gentile died on November 6, 1966, at the age of 81.[20][21]
References
- Notes
- ^ Dash, The First Family, pp. 139-43
- ^ a b c d The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba, by Tom Blickman, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997
- ^ Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America, pp. 155-58
- ^ (in Italian) Chilanti, Vito di capomafia, p. 15
- ^ (in Italian) Chilanti, Vito di capomafia, p. 151-53
- ^ a b Messick, Lansky, p.49
- ^ (in Italian) Chilanti, Vito di capomafia, p. 169
- ^ (in Italian) Chilanti, Vito di capomafia, pp. 166-68
- ^ (in Italian) Giugno 1946: la mafia si schierò con i Savoia? Archived 2016-05-08 at the Wayback Machine, Michele Vaccaro, Storia in rete, Settembre-Ottobre 2012
- ^ a b (in Italian) Chilanti, Vito di capomafia, p. 172
- ^ Davis, Mafia Dynasty, p. 101
- ^ Lewis, The Honoured Society, p. 146
- ^ KGB spies' book reveals stories behind espionage, Associated Press, October 1, 1998
- )
- ^ "COMMISSIONE PARLAMENTARE D'INCHIESTA CONCERNENTE IL "DOSSIER MITROKHIN" E L'ATTIVITA D'INTELLIGENCE ITALIANA" (PDF). June 10, 2003.
- ^ Mafioso's memoirs support Valachi’s testimony, New York Times, April 11, 1971
- ^ (in Italian) Arlacchi, Gli uomini del disonore, p. 158
- ^ Dickie, Cosa Nostra, p. 231.
- ^ Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America, p. 168
- ^ Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America, p. 170; see also Gentile's FBI file in the infobox
- ^ "FBI RIDs Dead List 2015". archive.org. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
- Sources
- (in Italian) Arlacchi, Pino (1992). Gli uomini del disonore. La mafia siciliana nella vita del grande pentito Antonio Calderone, Milan: Mondadori ISBN 88-04-35326-0
- (in Italian) Caruso, Alfio (2000). Da cosa nasce cosa. Storia della mafia del 1943 a oggi, Milan: Longanesi ISBN 88-304-1620-7
- Critchley, David (2009). The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931, New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-99030-0
- Dash, Mike (2009). The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, New York: Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-6722-0
- Davis, John H. (1993). Mafia Dynasty. The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family, New York: HarperCollins
- Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet, ISBN 0-340-82435-2
- (in Italian) Gentile, Nick & Felice Chilanti (1963), Vita di capomafia, Rome: Editori Riuniti.
- ISBN 0-907871-48-8
- Messick, Hank (1973). Lansky. London: Robert Hale & Company, ISBN 0-7091-3966-7
- Scott, Peter Dale (1993). Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-08410-1
External links
- (in Italian) Il memoriale dimenticato Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, Antimafia Duemila, January 2004 (Free registration)
- The American "Mafia": Who Was Who ? Nicola Gentile
- Nicola Gentile - Meet the Mafia's Most Elusive Yet Revealing Historical Figure, article by Christian Cipollini