Salvatore Maranzano
Biographical Information
Gender	Male
Born	July 31, 1886 Castellammare del Golfo, province of Trapani, Sicily, Italy
Died	December 31, 1933[1] Brooklyn, New York City
Affiliation	Maranzano
Title(s)	Don

Salvatore Maranzano was a high ranking mafioso from Sicily who came to the United States to establish a criminal empire.

BiographyEdit

A Sicilian immigrant from Castellammare del Golfo, a Cosa Nostra stronghold in the province of Trapani, Maranzano became, shortly after his arrive from Sicily, the boss of a criminal organization in Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City.

In 1933, Maranzano refused Vito Corleone's proposal to share his monopolized control over the gambling rackets in Manhattan, in exchange for political contacts and expansion into Brooklyn and The Bronx. This sparked the Olive Oil War. Maranzano, purportedly good friends with Al Capone, arranged for two of Capone's gunmen to come to New York to take care of things, and end the upstart. These gunmen were swiftly taken care of by Luca Brasi. With Capone's humiliation, and the odds even up, Corleone then sent the reserve of Tessio's regime after Maranzano.

DownfallEdit

Maranzano's soldiers were deserting him, fleeing his losing cause. Desperate for peace, Maranzano agreed to sit down with Corleone in a restaurant in Brooklyn. Maranzano's bodyguards had unbeknownst to him made a deal with Vito Corleone to set Maranzano up and fled the restaurant as Tessio and four of his men came in, armed to the teeth. While he still had half-chewed bread in his mouth, Maranzano was struck down in a hail of gunfire, riddled with more holes than swiss cheese.

Behind the scenesEdit

In reality, Salvatore Maranzano was the leader of the Castellammarese group in New York. His main rival in New York was Joe Masseria, who was betrayed to Maranzano by his lieutenant, Lucky Luciano. Luciano aligned himself with Maranzano, though Maranzano didn't trust Luciano and planned to kill him. Foreseeing this, Luciano sent Jewish associates to Maranzano's office posing as Treasury agents, who shot and stabbed Maranzano several times. Lucky Luciano then reformed the American Mafia and became the most powerful crime boss in the United States.

In reality, Salvatore Maranzano was killed on September 10, 1931. In The Family Corleone Maranzano is substituted by Giuseppe Mariposa to avoid a contradiction about the date of his death.

Maranzano was also rival of Al Capone, as Capone was an ally of Joe Masseria.

The Capone gunmen Maranzano sent for are likely a reference to Buster from Chicago, who was a hitman from Chicago Marazano used during the Castellammarese war.

Notes and referencesEdit

External linksEdit

• Salvatore Maranzano on Wikipedia