Top 10 Facts about Italiano Gangster Lucky Luciano

A Mugshot photo of Lucky Luciano by Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Facts about Italiano Gangster Lucky Luciano

As a juvenile, Luciano established his own criminal organization and became a Storied Five Points Gang member. Unlike other street-based gangs who engaged in petty criminality, Luciano provided protection to Jewish juveniles from the threat of Italian and Irish gangs, charging a nominal fee of ten cents per week.

During this time, he also began to familiarize himself with the trade of pimping in the years surrounding World War I. Luciano encountered Meyer Lansky, another young delinquent when he attempted to extort Lansky for protection money on his route home from school. Luciano was impressed by Lansky’s resolute response to his demands and the two established a lasting and profitable alliance.

2. Luciano was eight years old his family emigrated from Sicily to the United States

Luciano, also known by his birth name Salvatore Lucania, was born on November 24, 1897, in the town of Lercara Friddi located in Sicily, Italy. He was the offspring of Antonio Lucania and Rosalia Capporelli, who had a total of five children, including Bartolomeo, Giuseppe, Filippa, and Concetta. Luciano’s father was employed in a sulfur mine in Sicily during this time.

In the April of 1906, at the tender age of eight, Luciano and his family embarked on a transatlantic migration from Sicily to the United States, alighting in the bustling Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, a bastion of Italian immigration. At the cusp of adolescence, Luciano forsook his studies and procured gainful employment as a purveyor of headwear, accruing a meagre weekly stipend of seven dollars.

Nevertheless, after a fortuitous roll of the dice yielded a windfall of 244 dollars, Luciano renounced his vocation and sought remuneration through more unconventional avenues. In that same year, Luciano’s progenitors enrolled him in the Brooklyn Truant School.

3. Luciano carried out a great role in WW2

During World War II, Luciano entered into an arrangement with the Department of the Navy via his Jewish Mob associate Meyer Lansky to furnish naval intelligence. This pact was believed to have been a significant factor in the subsequent commutation of his sentence in 1946, on account of his purported cooperation with the war effort. As a result of this agreement, Luciano was deported to Italy as a condition of his sentence reduction.

4. He was involved in compulsory prostitution

In 1936, the notorious underworld figure, Luciano, underwent a criminal trial as a result of a comprehensive investigation conducted by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. The charges levelled against him were of compulsory prostitution and the operation of a prostitution racket, both of which he was ultimately found guilty of. The outcome of the trial resulted in a substantial prison sentence ranging from thirty to fifty years.

5. Declined to become a titular

During a clandestine confabulation held in Luciano’s hotel suite, the latter engaged in discourse with Genovese. The latter, who had been repatriated to New York from Italy the preceding year to face charges for murder dating back to 1934, saw the charges dismissed in June of 1946, thus enabling him to resume his criminal pursuits.

In contradistinction to Costello, Luciano harboured a profound distrust for Genovese. During their meeting, Genovese attempted to persuade Luciano to adopt a ceremonial role and cede the reins of power to him. However, Luciano coolly rejected this proposal.

Luciano averred that no single individual can lay claim to the title of “Boss of Bosses”. He declaimed Genovese’s suggestion in front of everyone present and stated that if he were to ever reconsider his stance, it would not be at Genovese’s discretion. Luciano conveyed that, at present, Genovese worked for him and he was not ready to abdicate his responsibilities. If Genovese were to reiterate his request, Luciano warned that he may lose his temper.

6. He was married to Igea Lissoni

In the annals of 1948, Luciano encountered Igea Lissoni, a ballerina hailing from Milan and two decades his junior, whom he would later term the epitome of his affection. In the summer of that year, Lissoni took up residency with Luciano. Despite some accounts that they entered into matrimony in 1949, others maintain that they simply exchanged rings as a symbol of their commitment.

Luciano and Lissoni cohabitated in Luciano’s abode located in Naples. Despite his affection for Lissoni, he continued to engage in romantic liaisons with other women, leading to numerous confrontations and even instances of physical violence against Lissoni. Tragically, in 1959, Lissoni succumbed to the ravages of breast cancer.

Luciano remained childless throughout his life. He cited his aversion to exposing his progeny to the perils and tribulations he faced as a gangster. He expressed disdain towards Dewey, who, in his eyes, had consigned him to a life of criminal notoriety.

7. He is featured in books

Luciano’s Luck, Jack Higgins is fictionally based on Luciano’s WWII supposed war efforts. The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, Martin A. Gosch and Richard Hammer Semi-Autobiographical, based on Luciano’s entire lifespan as dedicated by him.
Life by Night, a crime novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, was published in 2012.

The book won a 2013 Edgar Award for the novel of the year. Luciano is a minor character appearing in the story of the fictional gangster Joe Coughlin. He is further mentioned in the sequel “World Gone By”.

Lucky Santangelo was named after Lucky Luciano in the Santangelo novels are series of novels written by Jackie Collins which focus on the Santangelo family, particularly Gino Santangelo

8. Ran a gang from prison

From the confines of prison, Luciano directed the operations of his criminal syndicate through his delegated proxy, Genovese. However, in 1937, as Genovese faced the imminent prospect of being charged with murder in New York, he fled to Naples. In response, Luciano appointed his consigliere, Costello, as the interim head of the crime family and the custodian of Luciano’s interests.

Luciano was initially incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, but was later transferred to the remote Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. At this latter facility, Luciano was treated to specially prepared cuisine by Betillo, who had been provided with a dedicated kitchen by the authorities.
Luciano’s legal pursuits, in the form of appeals, persisted until October 10, 1938, when the United States Supreme Court declined to review his case. Following this decision, Luciano voluntarily abdicated his position as the head of the crime family, with Costello officially assuming the mantle.

9. He attended the 1946 Havana Conference

In October of 1946, Salvatore Luciano embarked on a clandestine journey to Havana, Cuba. He embarked on a maritime voyage from Naples to Caracas, before proceeding to Rio de Janeiro, and then to Mexico City, before ultimately doubling back to Caracas and taking a private aircraft to Camagüey.

He eventually arrived in Havana on October 29th, and took up residency in the Miramar district of the city, desiring proximity to the United States in order to re-establish his influence over the American Mafia. Meyer Lansky, a close associate and influential figure within the criminal underworld, had already established himself as a substantial investor in Cuban gambling and hotel enterprises.

Later in the year, Lansky orchestrated a summit in Havana, which was attended by the heads of the preeminent organized crime families and facilitated under the guise of witnessing a performance by singer Frank Sinatra. The true purpose of the meeting, referred to as the Havana Conference, was to hold discussions regarding criminal operations and included discussions on the heroin trade, Cuban gambling, and the problematic Flamingo Hotel project in Las Vegas. The conference took place at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba and lasted approximately one week.

10. Unlike most gangsters who died of bullet Luciano died of Acute Myocardial Infarction

On the 26th of January, 1962, Luciano suffered a fatal cardiac arrest while at Naples International Airport, where he had convened with American film producer Martin Gosch to deliberate upon a biographical film chronicling his life. Luciano, who had previously declined to sanction such a project due to concerns of inciting his fellow Mafia associates, had allegedly relented after the passing of his beloved companion, Igea Lissoni.

Tragically, Luciano was unaware of the presence of Italian agents of the law who had been tailing him in preparation for his arrest on allegations of drug trafficking. Three days later, a sombre funeral was held in Naples, attended by three hundred mourners, during which Luciano’s mortal remains were conveyed through the streets on a horse-drawn hearse draped in black.

With the authorization of the United States government, Luciano’s family members repatriated his body to New York for interment, where a funeral service was held in his honour at St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, attended by over two thousand people. Gambino, a long-standing friend of Luciano, delivered the eulogy.