Bernardo Provenzano was a representative of the Sicilian mafia. For a long time he was the head of the Corleonesi clan and was considered the godfather of the goat nostra. He managed to hide for forty years, living and conducting all affairs on his native island. They managed to arrest him only in the seventy-third year of life thanks to a large-scale operation lasting about a year.
Famous nicknames Mafiosi
During his life, Bernardo Provenzano had several nicknames that were fixed to him during his years in the Italian mafia. At the beginning of the journey, he was often called the Bulldozer or Tractor Binnu. This was due to his character, so intractable and uncompromising he was, performing killings for his boss.
Another nickname, Accountant, appeared later. It is due to how gently and skillfully Provenzano approached the management of his own criminal world when he became the boss.
The beginning of the way
Bernardo Provenzano was born on 01/31/1933 in Corleone. He was the third child in the family of a peasant Angelo Provenzano. After graduating from elementary school, the boy stopped studying and began to work with his father.
At the age of twenty-one, he was called up for military service, but was soon fired for medical reasons.
From an early age, Bernardo committed minor crimes and joined the mafia clan Corleonesi. The boss of this group was Michele Navarra. However, a conflict has ripened in the mafia family over the ambitions of Luciano Leggio. Bernardo takes the side of the ambitious Leggio and in 1958, along with other killers, kills Navarro. The head of Corleonesi becomes Luciano Leggio. The work of Provenzano was the physical elimination of supporters of the former boss.
In 1963, Provenzano was charged with murder and a warrant was issued for his arrest. From then on, he began to hide from justice. He managed to do this until 2006.
Work at Salvatore Riina
In 1974, Luciano Leggio was charged with murder and arrested. Salvatore Riina comes to power. At this time, Bernardo Provenzano became the deputy and right-handed boss. He began to manage the financial affairs of the clan, including the heroin trade.
At the very beginning of the eighties of the twentieth century, the second mafia war took place, as a result of which Riina rose above the other families of Sicily. During the conflict between the clans, more than a thousand mafiosi died. Whether Bernardo had anything to do with this is not known.
In 1993, the head of the Corleonesi clan was arrested. He received a life sentence. Bernardo became his successor.
Absentee arrest and clan leadership
In absentia, Bernardo Provenzano was also sentenced to imprisonment. His biography was full of various kinds of crimes. But he was extremely careful and skillfully hiding. Only his closest people knew about his whereabouts. He did not use a telephone to do business. He transmitted his orders through short notes, which were called "pizzini."
New Provenzano Mafia
When the Italian mafiosi Bernardo Provenzano became the godfather of the Sicilian mafia, he did not carry out mass attacks to avenge the local authorities for the onslaught of his group. He acted more flexibly, taking measures to strengthen his own influence on various state and financial structures.
Having come to power, he was able to restore the former principles of the mafia, which at one time was canceled by Riina. What principles guided Bernardo Provenzano?
7 rules by which the famous mafia lived:
- Disappearance - consists in temporary leaving if the company’s business is going badly. This will get rid of negative characteristics, such as "experiencing difficulties."
- Mediation - you must be able to skillfully negotiate. This implied calm, perseverance, correctness in voicing thoughts, the use of several sources of information.
- Consensus - the mafia, in the understanding of Provenzano, should be presented to people as a positive component of society.
- God must be on our side - Provenzano read and read the Holy Scriptures. He believed that people would trust the goat nostra if its subordinates would show piety, piety, respect. To do this, he sent them copies of the Bible.
- Being politically flexible is an opportunity to change a political union, if it is useful for business.
- Rethinking - the ability to distance oneself from unsuccessful affairs and scandals so that it is not associated with a name.
- Modesty - Provenzano was able to break out of the Bulldozer into a strategist and leader. He achieved a lot thanks to his ability to seem dumber than he really is.
However, all these rules could not save him from arrest. Although he managed to hide for quite some time, namely forty-three years.
2006 arrest
For many, it was not clear how a criminal could take refuge on a relatively small island, which was Sicily, for such a long period of time. Most likely, this could not have done without covering by the authorities. Otherwise, the mafiosi would have a shorter biography.
Bernardo Provenzano even visited France in 2002 to undergo surgery on the prostate in a hospital in the city of Marseille. According to the documents found, the procedure was paid for by the Italian Italian public health system. The fact that Bernardo was a patient in a French clinic was testified by DNA tests.
The large-scale hunt for the mafia boss began in 2005. More than a hundred representatives and accomplices of the mafia were arrested, but it was not possible to seize Provenzano. The fact that the police did not have a photograph of the criminal prevented the case. A single photograph dates from the sixties of the twentieth century. To obtain an approximate photobot, the existing image was aged using a computer program.
The large-scale action yielded results, and on April 11, 2006, the Mafia boss was seized near his hometown of Corleone. The event became a real sensation.
There was no trial in the Provenzano case, as he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment several times. He was imprisoned in the city of Terni. He was isolated from the world and could only see his lawyer, and the camera was under constant video surveillance.
Successor
The arrest of Provenzano provoked in the press speculations about who would become the successor to the mafia boss. The main contenders were Salvatore Lo Piccolo, Matteo Messina Denaro, Domenico Racculia.
There is an assumption that the way of management in the world of mafiosi has changed, and not just one person, but a whole group is engaged in leadership. Although among them there should be a boss who could extinguish internal disputes.
Most agree that the main successor and current boss is Matteo Messina Denaro, who is on the run.
The death of the mafia
Bernardo Provenzano, whose biography and family is associated with the Sicilian mafia, died July 13, 2016 in Milan (St. Peter's Hospital). Bladder cancer was the cause of the death of an eighty-year-old former leader of the goat nostra.
Interesting Facts
- In 2008, the series “The Last Patron” was released in Italy, telling about the events that took place several years before the capture of the “Godfather” in 2006. The main role went to Michele Placido. The film is difficult to recommend to everyone; it is more likely for an interested viewer. The plot will be understandable only to those who are interested in the world of the Sicilian mafia and who are fans of the Placido acting.
- The arrest of the “godfather” was carried out by tracking the delivery of clean linen to an abandoned farm, which was located near the hometown of the fugitive. The road that leads to the house was named after the arrest of the mafiosi. Many tourists take photos at the sign that stands at the entrance to the city.
- Bernardo Provenzano, whose children could see his father in prison only once a month, was married to Saveria. His sons are called Angelo and Paolo.