Michele Navarra

Michele Navarra
Mafia boss Michele Navarra
Born	(1905-01-05)January 5, 1905 Corleone, Sicily
Died	August 2, 1958(1958-08-02) (aged 53) Corleone, Sicily
Cause of death	Assassinated
Nationality	Italian
Other names	'u patri nostru (our father)
Allegiance	Cosa Nostra

Michele Navarra (January 5, 1905 – August 2, 1958) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was a qualified physician and headed the cosca from the town of Corleone in Sicily. He was known as 'u patri nostru (our father).

Navarra was born in the Sicilian town of Corleone in a middle class family; his father was a small landowner, a land surveyor and teacher at the local agrarian school. His uncle from his mother’s side, Angelo Gagliano, had been a member of the Fratuzzi, as the local Mafia was known at the time and which consisted mainly of gabellotti, local power brokers that leased large estates from absentee landlords, and subleased plots to peasant at excessive or abusive rates. He was killed in 1930.

Navarra studied at the University of Palermo, first engineering and later medicine, getting his degree in 1929. He served in the Italian army until 1942, reaching the rank of captain. He became the boss of Corleone in 1943, succeeding Calogero Lo Bue.

Navarra was the old fashioned type of Mafia boss: genteel, well dressed, but ferocious. He did not murder people himself, but delegated the work. From 1944-48, when he took over command of the Mafia in town, there had been 57 murders in Corleone. By skilful manipulation of the Mafia network of mutual aid and graft, he occupied several key positions in the establishment of Corleone, had powerful political connections and enjoyed a high status. He became the official medical adviser to the Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways), which was offered to him when, in public competition, he was the only candidate.

Following the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II (Operation Husky) in 1943, the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) granted Navarra the right to collect the military vehicles abandoned by the Italian army. Navarra used these to start a trucking company, which was vital to some of his operations involving the theft of livestock. In 1946 Navarra became the top doctor at the hospital in Corleone after his predecessor, Dr. Nicolosi, was conveniently murdered. A new large modern hospital in Corleone stood empty from 1952 to 1958 and was only put into service after the death of Navarra, the director of the old one.