Consigliere

Consigliere (Italian consigliere "counselor", pronounced [konsiʎˈʎɛːre], roughly kohn-seel-YEHR-eh) is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian, Calabrian and American Mafia. The word was popularized by the novel The Godfather (1972), and its film adaptation. In the novel, a consigliere is an adviser or counselor to the boss, with the additional responsibility of representing the boss in important meetings both within the boss's crime family and with other crime families. The consigliere is a close, trusted friend and confidant, the mob's version of an elder statesman. In some depictions, he is devoid of ambition and dispenses disinterested advice. This passive image of the consigliere does not correspond with what little is known of real-life consiglieri however. By the very nature of the job, a consigliere is one of the few in the family who can argue with the boss, and is often tasked with challenging the boss when needed, to ensure subsequent plans are foolproof.[1]

A real-life Mafia consigliere is generally the number three person in a crime family, after the boss and underboss in most cases.[2] The boss, underboss, and consigliere constitute a three-man ruling panel, or "Administration."[3]

Etymology

Structure of a Mafia crime family

In Italian, consigliere means "adviser" or "counselor" and is still a common title for example for members of city councils in Italy and Switzerland. It is derived from Latin consiliarius (advisor) and consilium (advice). The terminology of the U.S. Mafia is taken from that of the Sicilian Mafia and suggests that an analogy is intended to imitate the court of a medieval Italian principality. For example, Venice was led by a doge (duke) and a consigliere ducale (advisor to the doge). An underboss will normally move up to boss when the position becomes vacant, so his position is equivalent to that of heir to the throne. Consigliere, meanwhile, is analogous to chief minister or chancellor. (Oddly, in the novel The Godfather, the word is spelled consigliori; in the films, it is clearly pronounced consigliere.) In Joe Bonanno's book A Man of Honor he explains that a consigliere is more the voice or representative of the soldiers of the family, and that he may help to resolve or mediate in disputes for the lower echelon of the family.

Examples from U.S. mob

Joe Valachi mentions a mysterious "Sandino" arbitrating disputes as the Genovese family consigliere in the 1940s.[4] But in more recent times, consiglieri have tended to take a more active role in family affairs. In 1971, Colombo family Consigliere Joseph Yacovelli directed a murder campaign against renegade Colombo family soldier Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo.[1] Two decades later, another Colombo consigliere, Carmine Sessa, led a hit team that attempted to assassinate the acting boss, Victor Orena.[1] In 1976, Frank Bompensiero was appointed consigliere of the Los Angeles crime family, only to be murdered in a public phone booth in February 1977;[1] Bompensiero's boss had promoted him so that it would cause him to let his guard down.[1] Electronic surveillance in 1979 recorded New England Mafia Boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca talking about appointing his consigliere, so the position need not be chosen as a result of a consensus-seeking process.[1] When New Jersey Consigliere Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile found out in 1992 that his family's underboss, John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato, was bisexual, he ordered him killed.[5] In 1993, Paul Gulino, a drug dealer and associate of the Bonanno crime family, was murdered after he allegedly "put hands" on his family's consigliere.[6]

James Ida, the current Genovese consigliere, has been serving a life sentence since 1996. Dominick Cirillo is the family's acting consigliere. Joseph Corozzo is the current Gambino consigliere, while Anthony Rabito is consigliere for the Bonanno crime family. As these examples illustrate, modern consiglieri are generally former soldiers and capos, not outside advisers.

Examples from popular culture

In The Sopranos, Silvio Dante, who possesses a generally cool head and an encyclopedic knowledge of mafia rules and norms, serves as consigliere to Tony Soprano. Whilst in The Godfather, Tom Hagen fulfils the role of consigliere until he is removed by Michael Corleone following the death of Sonny Corleone, his brother. Hagen is not fully accepted by the other families because of his German-Irish descent.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2, p. 9.
  2. ↑ Garcia, Joaquin "Jack" and Michael Levin, (2008) Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family, p. 133. ISBN 1-4165-5163-8.
  3. ↑ "Genovese Indicitment"
  4. ↑ Maas, Peter, The Valachi papers, p. 158. ("Sandino was a greaseball, but he had a wise head.")
  5. ↑ Mannion, James, 101 things you didn't know about the Mafia, p. 91.
  6. ↑ "A Look At Mob Hits, Misses, Disappearances, and Deaths In America"

Further reading

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