Obituary: Bernardo Provenzano, ruthless Cosa Nostra boss

Cosa Nostra leader, Bernardo Provenzano

 ROME – Boss of bosses of the Cosa Nostra and leader of the Corleonesi, the most powerful Sicilian family in Italian Mafia history, Bernardo Provenzano, has died. Known for his merciless approach, he was nicknamed ‘the tractor’ for his ruthlessness in ‘mowing’ his opponents down with machine guns.  

 Provenzano also was given the name ‘the accountant’ by those who worked with him, as not only was he violent, but also extremely skilled with money and the keeping of finances.  He was tried ‘in absentia’ when on the run and sentenced to life imprisonment, and was finally arrested in April 2006 after hiding from the authorities for over four decades, wanted for numerous murders of other Mafiosi. The Corleonesi boss was serving a life sentence in a prison in Parma before he was moved to the San Paolo prison hospital in April 2014.  Matteo Messina Denaro, a fugitive since 1993, took over Provenzano’s role as Mafia boss and is reportedly one of the ten most wanted criminals in the world.

 Provenzano was born in Corleone, a rural town in the middle of the Sicilian countryside, and was the third of seven siblings. After leaving school at the age of ten to work as a farmer during the 1943 allied invasion of Sicily, he was admitted to the Mafia in a secret initiation ceremony shortly after his 18th birthday, as many young Sicilians were. His first serious crime was committed a few years later at the age of 25, when he aided fellow young member of the Corleonese clan, Luciano Leggio, to kill its leader at the time, Michele Navarra. Although Provenzano was not directly or solely responsible for Navarra’s assassination, this was the first of many murders of other Mafiosi, for which he would eventually be imprisoned in 2006.

 Provenzano rose up the ranks of the Mafia as he worked for Leggio, alongside his friend, Toto Riina, who would soon take over as boss when Leggio was imprisoned. Leggio used to say “he shoots like a god, but has the brains of a chicken,” about Provenzano, but his ability to remain in hiding for four decades would suggest that he was also highly intelligent as well as just a good shot. When Leggio was arrested in 1974, Riina became boss and made Provenzano his right-hand man.

 It was during Riina’s reign as leader with Provenzano as his partner in crime when the most serious atrocities were committed against members of the Italian state. Important anti-Mafia judges and high-status Italian political figures were assassinated, causing outrage amongst the public. Riina was known to take care of the operational side of things, whilst Provenzano managed the finances from his luxurious 18th century Palermo villa in which he lived, undetected by the police, for much of the 80s and 90s.  Riina was eventually arrested in January 1993, which left Provenzano in charge as boss.

 Riina’s rule saw a phase of ruthless violence from the Cosa Nostra, which, under his leadership, murdered a string of top judges and public figures, continuously challenging the authority of the state. After his arrest, Provenzano steered the Sicilian Mafia on a less violent course and reverted to more traditional businesses such as extortion and intimidation, staying away from direct involvement in politics. Some say that it was Provenzano who, driven by frustration towards his boss’ use of violence, gave Riina’s address to the authorities.

 Provenzano had gone into hiding in 1963 because he was wanted for connection with numerous murders, and therefore controlled everything from behind closed doors, in complete secrecy. He reportedly lived out most of his time ‘on the run’ where he was born and where his family lived, in a farm house in Corleone. He was extremely cautious about keeping his whereabouts from the police, and succeeded in managing the multi-billion pound criminal organisation by means of ‘pizzini,’ type-written coded messages which he hid inside the Bible and gave to faithful couriers to deliver to loyal henchmen. His religious fervour was evident in the messages which often read “May the Lord bless and protect you,” or similar such benedictions.

 In 2006, his location was finally traced by the police, and he was arrested, an elderly man of 73, in his shepherd’s refuge home in Corleone. A trial was not necessary because he had already been given multiple life sentences for association in several murders, so he was taken straight to prison in Parma. He served his sentence there for only eight years before he was moved to San Paolo hospital in Milan, suffering from severe neurological problems. His health deteriorated, and despite a plea from his lawyer, Rosalba di Gregorio, for his release on the grounds of medical reasons, he remained in hospital until his death on July 13 at the age of 83.

 Bernardo Provenzano - Born January 31, 1933. Died July 13, 2016.

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