|
Giuseppe Genco Russo (Mussomeli, January 26, 1893 – Mussomeli, March 18, 1976) was an Italian mafioso, the boss of Mussomeli in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Genco Russo, also known as "Zi Peppi Jencu", was an uncouth, sly, semi-literate thug with excellent political connections. A vulgar man – he used to spit on the floor no matter who was present – he was often photographed with bishops, bankers, civil servants and politicians.〔Sterling, ''Octopus'', p. 146〕 As such he was considered to be the arbiter of Mafia politics, and regarded as the successor of Calogero Vizzini who had died in 1954. Although by then a wealthy landowner and politician (as a member of DC, Democrazia Cristiana, Italian Christian Democrat) he still kept his mule in the house and the toilet outside, which was little more than a hole in the ground with a stone for a seat and no walls or door, according to Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta.〔Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 275〕 Traditional mafiosi, like Genco Russo and Calogero Vizzini, Mafia bosses of in the years between the two world wars until the 1950s and 1960s, were the archetypes of the "man of honour" of a bygone age, as a social intermediary and a man standing for order and peace. Although they used violence to establish their position in the first phase of their careers, in the second stage they limited recourse to violence, turned to primarily legal sources of gain, and exercised their power in an open and legitimate fashion and became "man of order".〔Chubb, ''(The Mafia and Politics )''〕〔Arlacchi, ''Mafia Business'', p. 42〕 ==Early years== Genco Russo was born in Mussomeli, Sicily, of very humble origin. His father was a simple peasant. At one time he was just a beggar, a fellow-villager said about him. In his youth he was forced to work as a goatherd on the large Polizzello estate owned by the noble Lanza Branciforti family.〔Hess, ''Mafia & Mafiosi'', (p. 48 )〕 He started his criminal career as a juvenile highway robber, rustling cattle and sheep.〔Hess, ''Mafia & Mafiosi'', (p. 51 )〕〔 Mangano, ''(Mafia come sistema )''〕 Through a career of violence stretching from the 1920s to the 1940s, he established his position as a mafioso, a so-called "man of honour."〔 From 1918-1922 Genco Russo served in the military, leaving a record of "rebellious behaviour and impatience to discipline."〔 In a 1927 report by the police chief of Caltanissetta, he was described as “a mafioso that acquired a respectable financial position out of nothing” and on the countryside people feared him.〔 In 1929 he married with a local girl and four years later his first son Vincenzo was born. Best man at the baptism was fellow mafioso Calogero Vizzini who would also be the witness at the marriage of Vincenzo in 1950 together with Rosario Lanza, the president of the Sicilian regional assembly.〔〔Servadio, ''Mafioso'', p. 161〕〔 (La morte di Genco Russo "boss dei boss" della mafia; Ad 83 anni, stroncato da enfisema polmonare ), La Stampa, March 19, 1976〕 Until 1934 Genco Russo officially held no significant land holdings. As caretaker and lease-holder (''gabelotto'' or bailiff) he controlled part of an estate and was an associate in a cooperative that controlled another. As associate of a cooperative of ex-combatants he also had a share in the Polizzello estate. He ruled the cooperative through intimidation and threats, while at the same time he kept working as labourer on the fields.〔 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「Giuseppe Genco Russo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|