Blood Brotherhoods (129 page)

ASRC, Tribunale penale di Reggio, b. 154, inv. 68, fasc. 4. Assise RC. Procedimento contro Callea Domenico +10 per l’omicidio di Maviglia Pietro 1894.

ASRC, Tribunale penale di Reggio, b. 543, inv. 68, no. 3069. Procedimento contro Ioffrida Domenico di Roghudi + 39 associazione a delinquere 1896.

ASRC, Tribunale Reggio Calabria, Sentenza 25/3/1896, Velonà Filippo + 29.

ASRC, Tribunale Reggio Calabria, Sentenza 27/4/1896, n. 210, Ioffrida Domenico + 39.

ASRC, Tribunale Reggio Calabria, Sentenza 26/5/1896, n. 444, Favasuli Bartolo + 29.

C. Alvaro,
Polsi nell’arte, nella leggenda, nella storia
, Reggio Calabria, 2005 (1912).

G. Chirico,
Una vicenda giudiziaria di associazione per delinquere di tipo mafioso nella provincia di Reggio Calabria (1890–1900)
, Tesi di Laurea, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche, Università degli Studi di Messina, 1989–90. A precocious analysis of part of the above material.

P. Martino, ‘Per la storia della ’Ndrànghita’,
Biblioteca di Ricerche Linguistiche e Filologiche
, vol. 25, no. 1, 1988. Very useful on the jargon of the picciotteria and its derivation.

G. Postiglione,
Relazione statistica dei lavori compiuti nel circondario del tribunale civile e penale di Palmi nell’anno 1890
, Palmi, 1891.

J. Steinberg,
The Number. One man’s search for identity in the Cape underworld and prison gangs
, Johannesburg, 2004.

F. Varese,
The Russian Mafia. Private Protection in a New Market Economy
, Oxford, 2001. An excellent account of the Russian mafia.

16. The King of Aspromonte

Archival sources:

ASRC, Gabinetto di Prefettura, n. 1089, Associazione a delinquere in S. Stefano, b. 27, inv. 34. Mangione’s reports on the picciotteria in Musolino’s hometown. Includes remarkable material on Musolino’s sisters.

ASRC, Gabinetto di Prefettura, Serie prima, affari riservati. Bandito Musolino. The vast collection of documents on the Musolino case.

See for example:

Ditto
, b. 2, fasc. 11. Delegati di PS impegnati nella cattura di Musolino, sottofasc. Mangione. On the policeman who investigated the picciotteria in Santo Stefano.

Ditto
, b. 2, fasc. 23. Stampa. Notizie sul brigante Musolino. Press clippings on Musolino that show how worried the authorities were about the growth of his mythical status as an innocent avenger.

Ditto
, b. 2, fasc. 13. Favoreggiatori. A collection of false leads from all over Italy and the USA.

Press:

I have followed the Musolino trial in
Giornale d’Italia
and
Avanti!
(April–June, 1902).

G. Cingari, ‘Tra brigantaggio e “picciotteria”: Giuseppe Musolino’, in
idem
,
Brigantaggio, proprietari e contadini nel Sud
, Reggio Calabria, 1976. Fundamental for all aspects of the Musolino case. The brigand’s open letter to
La Tribuna
, dated 28/3/1900, is quoted from Cingari.

N. Douglas,
Old Calabria
, London, 1983 (1915).

E. Morselli and S. De Sanctis,
Biografia di un bandito. Giuseppe Musolino di fronte alla psichiatria ed alla sociologia
, Milan, 1903.

M. Pascoli,
Lungo la vita di Giovanni Pascoli
, Milan, 1961.

A. Rossi, ‘Alla ricerca di Musolino’,
L’Adriatico
, 11/2/1901. The first of a brilliant series of twenty articles (most published under the title ‘Nel regno di Musolino’) running until 6/4/1901.

PART V: MEDIA DONS

17. Bankers and Men of Honour / 18. Floriopolis / 19. Four trials and a funeral

ACS, DGPS, aa.gg.rr. Atti speciali (1898–1940), b. 1, fasc. 1, ‘The Sangiorgi Report’. It is worth noting that there were some links between Palizzolo and the
mafiosi
detailed in Sangiorgi’s report. The MP provided character references for some of the Men of Honour whose gun licences the chief of police confiscated. Palizzolo’s favourite Villabate
cosca
sold stolen cattle through the same Palermo butcher who hosted summits attended by Antonino Giammona, Francesco Siino,
et al
.

There is information on Sangiorgi’s activities as chief of police of Palermo in the Sangiorgi career files, including the transfer notification telegram I quote.

The best accounts of the Notarbartolo affair are in:

S. Lupo,
Storia della mafia
, Rome, 1996. The quote from the police on Palizzolo as ‘the mafia’s patron’ is quoted on p. 115. Lupo also describes Ignazio Florio’s free ride during the trial as ‘miraculous’.

G. Barone, ‘Egemonie urbane e potere locale (1882–1913)’, in M. Aymard and G. Giarrizzo (eds),
Storia d’Italia. Le regioni dall’Unità a oggi
.
La Sicilia
, Turin, 1987. Florio on the mafia as ‘an invention created to calumny Sicily’ is quoted on p. 317. The quotation about the fear among honest journalists is from p. 314. Cosenza quoted on the ‘priests of Themis’ is on p. 325.

There are also useful points in:

F. Renda,
Socialisti e cattolici in Sicilia (1900–1904)
, Caltanissetta, 1972.

F. Renda,
Storia della mafia
, Palermo, 1997. The quotation on ‘the high mafia planned the murder long in advance’ is on p. 147.

N. Colajanni,
La Sicilia dai borboni ai sabaudi (1860–1900)
, Milan, 1951.

L. Notarbartolo,
Memorie della vita di mio padre
, Pistoia, 1949. On the
Tribuna Giudiziaria
being close to Cosenza, see p. 365.

R. Poma,
Onorevole alzatevi!
, Florence, 1976. Quotes the lines on the Florence verdict hailed as a sign of national unity.

S. Sonnino,
Diario 1866–1912
, vol. 1, Bari, 1972. On the possibility of an early election due to the first Notarbartolo trial.

I followed the various trials in a number of newspapers:

Avanti!
On Palizzolo’s convulsive laughter at the verdict 1/8/1902.

Corriere della Sera
. On Palizzolo ‘accessible to the voters’, 1–2/10/1901 (quoted in Lupo,
Storia della mafia
, p. 111).

Daily Expr
ess. On the Florence verdict, 25/7/1904.

Giornale di Sicilia
. ‘La questione Avellone’, 2–3/4/1892 (quoted in O. Cancila,
Palermo
, Bari, 2000, pp. 234–5). For the new prefect’s proclamation of a campaign against extortion, see 14–15/9/1898. On how well respected the Giammona family were, 13–14/5/1901. On the Giammonas’ generosity: 20–21/5/1901. On the mafia as a ‘hypertrophy of individualism’, 24–25/5/1901. Interestingly the full quote comes word-for-word from Cosenza’s 1900 speech opening the judicial year (see Renda,
Socialisti e cattolici
, p. 408). Cosenza also quotes Giuseppe Falcone, a lawyer of Palizzolo’s and the man responsible for trying to smear Sangiorgi at the end of the story. On Sangiorgi’s death, 4–5/11/1908.

Il Mattino
. On Sangiorgi’s death, 4–5/11/1908.

Morning Post
. On the hypocrisy at the pro-Notarbartolo demonstration, see 22/12/1899.

L’Ora
. On the mafia as ‘rustic chivalry’ 5–6/6/1901. For the letter slandering Sangiorgi, 19–20/11/1903. On Sangiorgi’s death, 4/11/1908.

Resto del Carlino
. Sangiorgi on ‘the mafia is powerful’, 30–31/10/1901.

The St Louis Republic
. ‘The bandit-king’s levee’ (anon), 14/1/1900. For the scene at Palizzolo’s bedroom receptions.

The Times
. On Leopoldo Notarbartolo’s ‘sobriety, scrupulous attention to fact’, 18/10/1901.

Tribuna Giudiziaria
. See 29/11/1903 and the article ‘Commedia poliziesca’ for Sangiorgi’s ‘slanderous’ testimony.

22. The criminal Atlantic

C. Alvaro, ‘La fibbia’,
Corriere della Sera
, 17/9/1955. For the anecdote about the ‘association’ in San Luca.

G. Cingari,
Storia della Calabria dall’Unità a oggi
, Rome-Bari, 1983.

G. Cingari,
Reggio Calabria
, Rome-Bari, 1988. On the picciotteria in the aftermath of the earthquake of 1908.

D. Critchley,
The Origin of Organised Crime in America. The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931
, London, 2009. Marshalls a vast amount of excellent documentation but is marred by its lack of knowledge of the best Italian studies on the mafia, which leads, for example, to his taking the Sicilians like Joe Bonanno at their word on ‘honour’ and such like. All the same, Critchley’s book is important in that it is the first to assemble an overview involving both Campanian and Calabrian gangs as well as Sicilians. I have drawn on Critchley for Erricone’s time in New York, among other things.

P.Y. Herchenroether,
Helltown. The Story of the Hillsville Black Hand
, unpublished typescript, kindly provided by the author. On picciotteria-style gangs among miners in Pennsylvania.

S. Lupo,
Quando la mafia trovò l’America. Storia di un intreccio intercontinentale, 1888–2008
, Turin, 2008. Among many other things, Lupo quotes Antonio Musolino’s statement to the police.

New York Times
. ‘By order of the mafia’, 22/10/1888. Salvatore Lupo identifies this first mafia murder in the USA. Walter Littlefield, ‘Criminal band that murdered Petrosino in police coils’, 11/9/1910.

The ASRC contains some interesting files on the re-importation of the Black Hand into Calabria and on links between Calabrian gangs and the mining communities of the USA:

Tribunale penale Reggio Calabria, 1906, b. 981, fasc. 11156, Leone Antonino +63, Associazione a delinquere mano nera.

Ditto
, b. 993, fasc. 11732. Ignoti: minacce.

Ditto
, b. 1028, fasc. 12896. Romeo Francesco e altri (11/1907).

20. The ‘high’ camorra / 21. The camorra in straw-yellow gloves / 23. Gennaro Abbatemaggio: Genialoid / 24. The strange death of the Honoured Society

F. Barbagallo,
Il Mattino degli Scarfoglio, 1892–1928
, Milan, 1979.

F. Barbagallo,
Stato, parlamento e lotte politico-sociali nel Mezzogiorno (1900–1914)
, Naples, 1980. On Peppuccio Romano, among other things.

F. Barbagallo,
Storia della camorra
, Rome-Bari, 2010.

R. Canosa,
Storia della criminalità in Italia, 1845–1945
, Turin, 1991. The request from the
Carabinieri
for more money to pay witnesses is quoted on p. 291.

E. Ciccotti,
Come divenni e come cessai di essere deputato di Vicaria
, Naples, 1909. On the election and the camorra in tricolour cockades once more.

E. De Cosa,
Camorra e malavita a Napoli agli inizi del Novecento
, Cerchio, 1989 (1908).