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Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 6, 1928),〔Pietrusza, David. ("Arnold Rothstein Chronology" ), accessed March 16, 2011.〕〔Katcher, Leo (1959/1994). ''The Big Bankroll. The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein'', New York: Da Capo Press, p 8〕 nicknamed "the Brain", was an American racketeer, businessman and gambler who became a kingpin of the Jewish mob in New York. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series. According to crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top."〔Katcher, Leo (1959/1994). ''The Big Bankroll. The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein'', New York: Da Capo Press〕 According to Rich Cohen, Rothstein was the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early century capitalism (giving people what they want) and came to dominate them."〔Cohen, Rich (1999). ''Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams'', London: Vintage〕 His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals and films. Rothstein failed to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed poker game and was murdered in 1928. His illegal empire was broken up and distributed among a number of other underworld organizations and led in part to the downfall of Tammany Hall and the rise of reformer Fiorello La Guardia. Ten years after his death, his brother declared Rothstein's estate was bankrupt. == Early life and education == Arnold Rothstein was born into a comfortable life in Manhattan, the son of a well-off Jewish businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife Esther. His father was a man of upright character who acquired the nickname "Abe the Just". Arnold was highly skilled at mathematics but was otherwise uninterested in school. His older brother, on the other hand, studied to become a rabbi.〔("Arnold Rothstein" ), Biography Jewish Virtual Library, accessed 12 May 2012〕 While still a child, Rothstein began to indulge in gambling, but no matter how often his father scolded him for shooting dice, Rothstein would not stop. In a rare interview in 1921, Rothstein was asked how he became a gambler: "I always gambled. I can't remember when I didn't. Maybe I gambled just to show my father he couldn't tell me what to do, but I don't think so. I think I gambled because I loved the excitement. When I gambled, nothing else mattered."〔"Arnold Rothstein and the 1919 World Series Fix" by Victoria Vanderveer〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arnold Rothstein」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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