Nicolo Schiro
| Nicolo Schiro | |
|---|---|
Schiro, 1923
|
|
| Born |
September 2, 1872 Roccamena, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | April 29, 1957 (aged 84) Camporeale, Sicily, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian, American (renounced citizenship) |
| Other names | "Cola" |
| Occupation | Crime boss, mobster |
| Allegiance | Schiro Crime Family |
Nicolo "Cola" Schiro or Nicola Schiro (September 2, 1872 – April 29, 1957) was an early Sicilian-born New York City mobster. In 1912, he became the boss of the mafia gang that later became known as the Bonanno crime family. After nearly two decades as boss, a conflict with rival gangster Joe Masseria in 1930 would force Schiro out and elevate Salvatore Maranzano as his replacement. Following his ouster, Schiro returned to Sicily.
Nicolo Schiro was born on September 2, 1872 in the town of Roccamena, in the Province of Palermo, Sicily to Matteo Schiro and his wife, Maria Antonia Rizzuto. Nicolo was named after his paternal grandfather, a mayor of Roccamena in the 1840s who came from the Arbëreshë community of Contessa Entellina.
A few years later, Schiro's family moved to his mother's hometown in nearby Camporeale. Paolo Orlando, a cousin born in Camporeale, reportedly became a mafia boss in the large Italian community of the French colony of Tunis. Schiro immigrated to the United States in 1897, and by 1902 had settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
In 1912, Schiro replaced Sebastiano DiGaetano as the head of the local mafia centered in Williamsburg. DiGaetano, an immigrant from the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo, had gained notoriety two years earlier after being arrested as a suspect in the kidnappings of eight-year old Giuseppe Longo and seven-year old Michael Rizzo for ransom.Salvatore Clemente, a Secret Service informer in the Morello gang, claimed that DiGaetano was stepping down because he had "lost his nerve." Shortly after Schiro became boss, DiGaetano diappeared. Schiro's elevation to boss may have been helped by the presence in Brooklyn of his cousin, Orlando, who reportedly had been forced to leave Tunis. Orlando remained in Brooklyn until the end of World War I.
...
Wikipedia