1. Carmine “Cigar” Galante
Born in the East Harlem (Manhattan), Carmine was a son of two Italian immigrants. His parents were poor, and his father was a fisherman. Galante formed his first street gang at the age of 10, when most children don’t even know what “gang” means. By the age of 15, he quit school, and he started committing himself to criminal activities more seriously. He became connected to the mafia during Prohibition era, and he started as
He became connected to the mafia during Prohibition era, and he started as a chauffeur for Bonanno family. Later, he went on to become the underboss and one of the Bonanno crime family leaders. Although there are many allegations regarding his criminal deeds, it is no mystery to us how he got his nickname. Galante was rarely seen without his cigar, and even his death picture showed us that he was still holding a cigar in his mouth.
2. Tony “Big Tuna” Accardo
Accardo’s parents immigrated from Sicily one year before he was born, and they went to Chicago. At the age of 15, he was expelled from school and he joined Circus Cafe Gang not long after that. The thing with this gang was that it was recruiting new “talents” for bigger city gangs, and soon, Accardo joined Al Capone’s gang. Shortly after that, Accardo became one of the closest people to Al Capone, and it is widely known fact that he save Capone’s life in more than one occasion. Accardo’s nickname “Big Tuna” comes from a newspapers that reported Accardo caught a giant tuna fish on a fishing expedition. This may well be one of the weirdest Italian mafia names I’ve ever heard of. He is one of the many
This may well be one of the weirdest Italian mafia names I’ve ever heard of. He is one of the many mobsters that got famous during Prohibition era, but he is one of the few to actually die of natural causes. “Big Tuna” died in 1992 of a heart failure, and he was buried in Illinois.
3. Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio
Luigi Mannochio was born in 1927, so he skipped the Prohibition era unlike the previous two guys with cool Italian mafia names. Because of that, he is only guy on this list who is actually still alive. He was a boss of Patriarca mafia family, known for being a part of infamous La Cosa Nostra. However, he was kinda lucky to become the actual boss. Reportedly, he became
Reportedly, he became boss of the crime family just because many of its famous members were arrested, and there was no one to lead the family. On the other hand, we must be fair and say that Manocchio was described as very capable and opportunistic. He did his job well, but unfortunately for him, he was sent to prison in 2011. In 2015, he was released and he is still alive as a free man. There is no much information on how he got his “Baby Shacks nickname, but it wasn’t his only one. Manocchio’s nicknames included also “Louie”, “The Professor” and “The Old Man”.
There is no much information on how he got his “Baby Shacks nickname, but it wasn’t his only one. Manocchio’s nicknames included also “Louie”, “The Professor” and “The Old Man”.
4. Pasquale “Pat the Cat” Spirito
Little is known about Spirito so on our list of Italian mafia names his entry has to be the shortest one, but what we do know is that “Pat the Cat” worked as a hitman for Bruno crime family. He was introduced to the mafia family in 1982, and he got his nickname because he was very
He was introduced to the mafia family in 1982, and he got his nickname because he was very deceitful and elegant at the same time. He was killed in 1983, when he was shot three times in the back of his head.
