Salvatore Giuliano was an Italian bandit, who rose to prominence in the disorder that followed the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. In September of that year, Giuliano became an outlaw after shooting and killing a police officer who tried to arrest him for black market food smuggling, at a time when 70 percent of Sicily's food supply was provided by the black market. He maintained a band of subordinates for most of his career. He was a flamboyant, high-profile criminal, attacking the police at least as often as they sought him. In addition, he was a local power-broker in Sicilian politics between 1945 and 1948, including his role as a nominal colonel for the Movement for the Independence of Sicily. He and his band were held legally responsible for the Portella della Ginestra massacre, though there is some doubt about their role in the numerous deaths which occurred.
Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather. In the three Godfather films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominated for Academy Awards. Michael is the youngest son of Vito Corleone, a Sicilian immigrant who builds a Mafia empire. Upon his father's death, Michael succeeds him as the don of the Corleone crime family.
Paolo Emanuele Borsellino was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. After a long and distinguished career, culminating in the Maxi Trial in 1986–1987, on 19 July 1992, Borsellino was killed by a car bomb in Via D'Amelio, near his mother's house in Palermo.
Bernardo Provenzano was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia clan known as the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone, and de facto the boss of bosses. His nickname was Binnu u tratturi because, in the words of one informant, "he mows people down". Another nickname was il ragioniere, due to his apparently subtle and low-key approach to running his crime empire, at least in contrast to some of his more violent predecessors.
Michele Navarra was an Italian member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was a qualified physician and headed the Mafia family from the town of Corleone in Sicily. He was known as 'u patri nostru.
The Sicilian is a novel by American author Mario Puzo. Published in 1984 by Random House Publishing Group (ISBN 0-671-43564-7), it is based on the life of Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. It is set in the same universe as Puzo's most famous work, The Godfather (1969), and contains characters from The Godfather. It is regarded as The Godfather's literary sequel and is the second book in The Godfather novel series. It was adapted into a film in 1987, though all Godfather references were removed for copyright reasons in the film adaptation.
Giuseppe "Pippo" Fava was an Italian writer, investigative journalist, playwright, and Antimafia activist who was killed by the Mafia. He was the founder of the I Siciliani, a monthly magazine. His motto in life was "Is there any use in living if you don't have the courage to fight?"
The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella.
Benedetto Santapaola, better known as Nitto, is a prominent mafioso from Catania, the main city and industrial centre on Sicily's east coast. His nickname is il cacciatore, because of his passion for shooting game.
The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place from 1981 to 1984 and involved thousands of homicides. Sometimes referred to as The Great Mafia War or the Mattanza, it involved the entire Mafia and radically altered the power balance within the organization. In addition to the violence within the Mafia itself, there was violence against the state, including a campaign of deliberate assassinations of judges, prosecutors, detectives, politicians, activists and other ideological enemies. In turn, the war resulted in a major crackdown against the Mafia, helped by the pentiti, Mafiosi who collaborated with the authorities after losing so many friends and relatives to the fighting. In effect, the conflict helped end the secrecy of the Mafia.
The Motisi Mafia clan is a historical Sicilian Mafia clan from the Pagliarelli area in Palermo. The Motisi clan is one of the oldest Mafia clans in Palermo, and a Motisi was mentioned in 1937 as the Mafia boss of Pagliarelli by Melchiorre Allegra, a mafioso physician who became an informant when he was arrested. Prior to that, Motisi had also been mentioned in the Sangiorgi report.
Gerlando Alberti, nicknamed 'u Paccarè, was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He belonged to the Porta Nuova family in Palermo headed by Giuseppe Calò.
The Portella della Ginestra massacre refers to the killing of 11 people and 27 wounded during May Day celebrations in Sicily on 1 May 1947, in the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi. Those held responsible were the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano and his gang, although their motives and intentions are still a matter of controversy.
Giovanni Motisi also known as 'U Pacchiuni, is a member of the Sicilian Mafia in Sicily from the Altarello neighbourhood in Palermo. He has been on the most wanted list of the Italian ministry of the Interior since 1998.
Mario Giordano is a German writer. His novel Black Box (1999), which is based on a true occurrence was adapted to a film under the name Das Experiment directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The film was acclaimed and Giordano received for it among other prizes the Bavarian Film Award for Best Screenplay.
The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA), also known as the Anti-Mafia Investigation Division, is an Italian multi-force investigation body under the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior. Its main task is the fight against the mafia-related organized crime in Italy.
The term State-Mafia Pact describes an alleged series of negotiations between important Italian government officials and Cosa Nostra members that began after the period of the 1992 and 1993 terror attacks by the Sicilian Mafia with the aim to reach a deal to stop the attacks; according to other sources and hypotheses, it began even earlier. In summary, the supposed cornerstone of the deal was an end to "the Massacre Season" in return for a reduction in the detention measures provided for Italy's Article 41-bis prison regime. 41-bis was the law by which the Antimafia pool led by Giovanni Falcone had condemned hundreds of mafia members to the "hard prison regime". The negotiation hypothesis has been the subject of long investigations, both by the courts and in the media. In 2021, the Court of Appeal of Palermo acquitted a close associate of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, while upholding the sentences of the mafia bosses. This ruling was confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation in 2023.
