The Commission (Mafia)
| Founded by | Charles Luciano |
|---|---|
| Founding location | New York City, New York, United States |
| Years active | 1931–present |
| Territory | New York City, Apalachin, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and other Mafia cities in the United States |
| Ethnicity | Sicilian, Sicilian-American, Italian, Italian-American hold seats; although it has had at times Jewish mob leaders hold chairs on the Commission |
| Membership (est.) | only six families hold seats, but 15 other families are represented by two of the main families |
| Leader(s) | Michael Mancuso, Carmine Persico, Frank Cali, Liborio Bellomo, Steven Crea and John DiFronzo |
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia, formed in 1931. The Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title with a ruling committee consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit and Buffalo family. The last known Commission meeting held with all the bosses was in November 1985.
Before the Commission was formed, the American Mafia crime families were under control of one man known as the capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses", literally "head of all heads"). This man held great power over all their bosses, leading to disputes and wars.
In 1929, two New York Mafia bosses, Joe "The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, fought over the title in the Castellammarese War. Masseria was murdered on April 15, 1931, allowing Maranzano to assume the title of capo di tutti capi. Maranzano began to divide all the national criminal gangs into several crime families. Charles "Lucky" Luciano and his allies decided that Maranzano would be removed, and he was murdered on September 10, 1931.
After Maranzano's murder in 1931, the Mafia families called a meeting in Chicago. The purpose of the meeting was to replace the old Sicilian Mafia regime of "boss of all bosses" and establish a rule of consensus among the crime families. Charlie Luciano established a Mafia board of directors to be known as "The Commission" to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts between families. The Commission consisted of seven family bosses: the leaders of New York's Five Families: Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Vincent Mangano, Tommy Gagliano, Joseph Bonanno, and Joe Profaci; Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone; and Buffalo family boss Stefano Magaddino. Charlie Luciano was appointed chairman of the Commission. The Commission agreed to hold meetings every five years or when they needed to discuss family problems.
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