Joseph Ardizzone

Joseph "Iron Man" Ardizzone actually Giuseppe Ernesto Ardizzone (born November 19, 1884 in Piana degli Albanesi , Sicily ; † October 15, 1931 , disappeared without a trace ) was a Sicilian-American mobster of the US American Cosa Nostra and is considered the first real head the " Los Angeles Crime Family ". Thirty murders are assigned to him.

biography

Early years

Ardizzone was born in Piana dei Greci , which was renamed Piana degli Albanesi in 1941 , which belongs to the Province of Palermo . One of his ancestors is said to have fought with Albanians ( Arbëresh ) in Eastern Europe in the 16th century against the advancing Ottoman Empire . In Piana dei Greci , a greater Albanian community formed because they had received land there as a reward for their military use. Before emigrating , the Ardizzone maintained contact with other families, such as the Cuccias and the Matrangas , who had already left for the United States . Father Antonio arrived in Louisiana in the late 19th century, boarded a train to southern California, and became a successful farmer and winemaker . His sons Stefano and Francesco followed to Los Angeles; Giuseppe was one of the last to follow . His first name was Americanized and from then on he was called Joseph Ardizzone .

Joseph came into conflict with the now defunct Matranga family ( New Orleans Crime Family ), with whom he was known from Piana dei Greci and was distantly related. In 1906 he shot George Maisano , an ally of this family, in self-defense , as he later claimed. He left California and went into hiding in various states of the USA .

Exactly when he returned is unknown, in any case he was arrested, but no charges were brought. He married a young girl named Elsa , who was the daughter of a German immigrant in his former neighborhood in Sunland (Los Angeles) . Shortly thereafter, his house was arson and burned down completely.

Los Angeles family

When Joseph Ardizzone became a member of La Cosa Nostra is unknown. In any case, he was in a leadership position in the 1920s. After Rosario DeSimone had withdrawn for unknown reasons, he became head of the "Los Angeles family" and organized corresponding illegal activities of alcohol procurement and distribution during Prohibition in the United States .

In the war of Castellammare between Joseph Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano , the family supported in Los Angeles the side of Maranzano . According to the Sicilian Mafioso Nicola Gentile , Maranzano is said to have been secured by two men from California at a meeting. Other allies from Los Angeles were Jimmy Costa , Nick Guastella , Frank Bompensiero and Tony Mirabile .

In early 1931, Joseph Ardizzone was assassinated while he was traveling in a car with his friend Jimmy Basile : Basile was fatally wounded and Ardizzone injured. He had himself taken to the house of Leon DeSimone , the son of his predecessor Rosario DeSimone . There he was cared for and taken to a hospital, where a second attack was soon committed. It was rumored that he would now retire as chief.

It was obvious that Ardizzone had opponents in his own family. In particular Jack Dragna , who had excellent connections with Lucky Luciano . On October 15, 1931, he was Ardizzone with a 1930 Ford Coupe with the registration number SRW7653 on the way to his cousin in Etiwanda, a town of Rancho Cucamonga in southern California and disappeared without a trace. Apparently he was the victim of a Lupara Bianca .

estate

Jack Dragna became the successor to the Los Angeles Mafia family . After seven years, Joseph Ardizzone was pronounced dead at the request of his wife.

literature

• California Assembly, Interim Committee on Judiciary: Organized Crime in California — Report of the Subcommittee on Rackets. Sacramento 1959
• Nick Gentile (with Felice Chilanti): Vita di Capomafia. Editori Riuniti, Rome 1963
• State of California. Final report of the Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime. Sacramento, 1953
• Mary Lee Tiernan: He Never Came Home. The History of Sunland, California, Vol. 5. Snoops Desktop Publishing, July 1, 1999; ISBN 978-0-9702393-4-1
• Richard N. Warner: The First Mafia Boss of Los Angeles? The Mystery of Vito Di Giorgio, 1880-1922. On The Spot Journal (Summer 2008), pp. 46-54

Web links

• Joseph Ardizzone in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Organized crime: history and control (see Google books on books.google.com) (English)
2. ^ Richard N. Warner: The First Mafia Boss of Los Angeles? The Mystery of Vito Di Giorgio, 1880-1922 . On The Spot Journal (Summer 2008), 46-54.
3. ^ State of California, Final report of the Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime (Sacramento, 1953).

predecessor	Office	successor
Rosario DeSimone	Head of the “Los Angeles Family” of La Cosa Nostra 1925 - 1931	Jack Dragna