Would the American Mafia as we know it even exist without Salvatore Maranzano?
Wikimedia CommonsSalvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano didn’t dream of becoming a Mafioso back when he was a small boy in Sicily — let alone the head of the most powerful crime organization in America and the man who formed the American Mafia as we know it. No, he apparently dreamt of joining a much older order of brothers: the Catholic priesthood.
Instead, he wound up rising to dizzying heights in the New York underworld, where he tried to grab power and lead like his historical hero, Julius Caesar. Maranzano so admired the pagan emperor that he earned the nickname “Little Caesar.”
But before this “Little Caesar” could form the American Mafia itself and crown himself boss of all bosses, Salvatore Maranzano first made his name in crime back home in Sicily.
Salvatore Maranzano’s Journey From Priesthood To Mafioso
Salvatore Maranzano was born on July 31, 1868 in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, the youngest of 12 children born to Antonina and Domenico Maranzano. Tragically, only Salvatore and five of his 11 siblings lived into adulthood. Perhaps this played a role in his desire to become a priest, or perhaps not, but in either case, that was Maranzano’s original plan for his life. Plans change, however, and Maranzano soon found himself embroiled with the Cosa Nostra back in his homeland.
His obsession with the Roman emperor Julius Caesar fueled much of his ambition, and he quickly rose through the Mafia ranks in Italy. Eventually, Mafia Don Vito Ferro decided it was time to expand their operations into America, and he felt that Maranzano was the man for the job. So, in the early 1920s, Maranzano left his homeland behind and set sail for Brooklyn, New York City.
Public DomainCosa Nostra Don Vito Ferro.
Here, with Prohibition in full swing, Maranzano used his underworld knowledge to strike while the fire was still hot. He became involved in numerous gambling, bootlegging, narcotics smuggling, and prostitution rackets — anything, really, to make a quick buck.
In doing so, he rubbed shoulders with fellow up-and-coming gangsters like the now-infamous Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, and Meyer Lansky. Luciano, in particular, became an important figure once when the Castellammarese War broke out in 1930.
How The Castellammarese War Helped Create The American Mafia
The war began when Salvatore Maranzano and fellow gangster Joe Masseria both sought control of the New York underworld, with various other gangsters then taking sides with either man. The war waged on until Luciano, then Masseria’s right-hand man, betrayed his boss and had him killed in 1931 after striking a secret deal with Maranzano.
Public DomainJoe Masseria, the “boss of all bosses.”
In exchange, Maranzano promised to give Luciano control over Masseria’s rackets.
The hit occurred on April 15, 1931. Masseria was enjoying a seafood lunch and playing cards at the Nuova Villa Tammaro restaurant in Brooklyn when five bullets brought him down. His body was found in a halo of cards, with the ace of spades sitting in his right hand.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesThe body of Joe Masseria, ace of spades in hand, lies on the floor of the Nuova Villa Tammaro restaurant in Brooklyn on April 15, 1931.
After the Masseria hit, Salvatore Maranzano emerged as the capo di tutti capi, the “boss of all bosses” and organized the New York Mafia into the infamous Five Families that remain in place to this day. In addition to Maranzano himself, the families were headed by Luciano, Joe Profaci, Tommy Gagliano, and Vincent Mangano. Other rules were put in place to establish that each family would be comprised of a boss, underboss, capos, soldiers, and associates. Official members of the family — “made men” — were only to be full-blooded Italian-Americans, but associates could come from any background.
Unfortunately, when Maranzano declared himself as the capo di tutti capi, he signed his own death sentence. In his attempt to assert total control over the Five Families by whittling down the other families’ rackets, he made it clear that he still viewed himself as the Mafia’s one true leader — an assessment that others, Luciano included, would disagree with.
Wikimedia CommonsCharles “Lucky” Luciano poses for a mugshot in New York. 1931.
To make matters worse, Maranzano’s comparisons between his organization and the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar didn’t cease. He constantly compared himself to the Roman leader, and waxed poetic about Caesar to his associates and subordinates, often reveling in the fact that he seemed to know more about the Roman Empire than his American cousins. This, along with Maranzano’s general attitude, only made the bosses’ disdain for him even greater.
And in a bitterly ironic twist, it was Maranzano’s own Brutus, Lucky Luciano, who finally put an end to the tyrant’s rule.
The Downfall Of Salvatore “Little Caesar” Maranzano
Luciano realized quickly that Maranzano, despite his attempts at modernizing the mob, was always going to be a “Mustache Pete” — a term for mobsters stuck in the old ways of the Sicilian mob. A new American Mafia required new methods, and Maranzano wasn’t cut out for it. So Luciano devised a plan, establishing partnerships with Jewish mobsters like Lansky and Siegel, to take Maranzano down.
But Maranzano was a smart man. He knew that Luciano was planning to betray him. He hired Irish gangster, Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, to try and take Luciano out, but Luciano was warned about the assassination attempt. So, when Maranzano called Luciano and Vito Genovese to meet with him on September 10, 1931, Luciano figured the time was now or never.
Rather than attending the meeting himself, Luciano coordinated an attack with Siegel and Lansky, sending four Jewish mobsters who were unknown to Maranzano to meet him instead. They arrived disguised as government agents, with Tommy Lucchese there to point out Maranzano, disarmed Maranzano’s bodyguards, and stabbed the Mafia boss several times before shooting him to guarantee he was dead.
With Maranzano out of the way, most mobsters expected Luciano to follow in his predecessors footsteps and declare himself the boss of all bosses. However, Luciano, being a Young Turk, saw a different path forward. He did away with the title altogether, knowing full well that putting himself in such a position would only open him to the same scrutiny that put a target on Maranzano’s back. Likewise, Luciano worked to establish The Commission as a governing body to oversee organized crime operations and prevent further wars from breaking out.
Salvatore Maranzano’s reign as the head of the American Mafia may have been short-lived, but for someone who positioned himself as the spiritual successor to Julius Caesar, it was an oddly fitting end.
After this look at Salvatore Maranzano, discover some of the most astounding Al Capone facts and John Gotti facts you’ll ever read.
