December 24, 1925 - Giuseppe Farinella
His family's criminal roots predated his own rise, stretching back to the era when Mussolini dispatched the Iron Prefect to break Sicilian organized crime — a campaign that failed to extinguish the Farinella line. From a mountain village that served as a refuge for fugitive mafiosi, he built uncontested authority over a wide territory and secured a seat on the Sicilian Mafia Commission, the body coordinating the Cosa Nostra's most consequential decisions. His alignment with the Corleonesi during the brutal Second Mafia War placed him within the winning faction, consolidating rather than threatening his position.
From Wikipedia
Giuseppe Farinella (24 December 1925 – 5 September 2017) was a Sicilian mafioso, boss of the San Mauro Castelverde Mafia family and a one-time member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission.
San Mauro Castelverde, a village 1,000 metres above sea level in the Madonie mountain range in the province of Palermo, is the stronghold of the Farinella family. It is often used as a hideout for fugitive mafiosi. Giuseppe Farinella is the son of Mariano Farinella, already known as a criminal in the days of the Iron Prefect, Cesare Mori, appointed by Benito Mussolini to suppress the Mafia in the late 1920s.
For many years Giuseppe Don Peppino Farinella was the uncontested chieftain of the area. He became the "capo mandamento" of Gangi-San Mauro Castelverde area, and his influence reached into the province of Messina. He was a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission since the late 1970s, according to the pentiti Salvatore Cancemi, Francesco Di Carlo and Giovanni Brusca. He was close to the Corleonesi, and supported them during the Second Mafia War, though due to San Mauro Castelverde's relative isolation, his Mafia faction did not have an active role in the war.
- Last updated on .