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The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (Italian: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa-], Sicilian: [ˈkɔːsa ˈnɔʂː(ɽ)a]; "our thing" [3]), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. It is an association of gangs which sell their ...
The Sicilian Mafia was less active during the era of Fascist Italy and it was fought by Benito Mussolini's government. In June 1924, Mussolini instructed Cesare Mori to eradicate the Mafia from Sicily and on October 25, 1925, appointed Mori prefect of the Sicilian capital, Palermo .
This is a glossary of words related to the Mafia, primarily the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia. administration: the top-level "management" of an organized crime family -- the boss, underboss and consigliere. [1] associate: one who works with mobsters, but has not been asked to take the vow of Omertà; an almost confirmed, or made guy ...
The best-known Italian organized crime group is the Mafia or Sicilian Mafia (referred to as Cosa Nostra by members). As the original group named "Mafia", the Sicilian Mafia is the basis for the current colloquial usage of the term to refer to organized crime groups. It along with the Neapolitan Camorra and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta are active ...
Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet. ISBN 978-0-340-82435-1. Servadio, Gaia (1976). Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-8128-2101-7.
The origins of the term come from the Sicilian Mafia. In the Sicilian language, the word cosca, which is the crown of spiny, closely folded leaves on plants such as the artichoke or the thistle, symbolizes the tightness of relationships between members. The word cosca is also used for clan.
Archaic and classical Greek Sicily: a social and economic history (Oxford UP, 2016). Dickie, John. Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia (2004), synthesis of Italian scholarship; Dimico, Arcangelo, Alessia Isopi, and Ola Olsson. "Origins of the Sicilian Mafia: The market for lemons." Journal of Economic History 77.4 (2017): 1083-1115. online
The exact origin is unknown, but an Italian source identifies the bacio della morte as the kiss given to the assassin delegated to "execute" a death sentence, as if to seal the solemn judgment and to wish success on the assignment.