Salvatore Riina (1930 - 2017)

Born 16 Nov 1930 in Corleone, Palermo, Sicilia, Italia

Ancestors

Died 17 Nov 2017 at age 87 in Parma, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italia

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Biography

Salvatore Riina, son of Giovanni Riina and Maria Concetta Rizzo, is born in Corleone on 16 November 1930.^[1] Salvatore is named after his paternal grandfather.

Salvatore, called Toto, is a member of the Mafia in Corleone. When Luciano Leggio begins a war against the boss at that time, Dr. Michele Navarra, Riina joins Leggio's side. When Leggio is imprisoned in 1974, Riina succeeds him. Both men lived in hiding from the 1960s, to avoid arrest. Riina led the Corleonese Mafia while on the run from the police, for decades, much of that time from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Corleone.

Salvatore's parents were fourth cousins, and so are he and his wife, Ninetta.

Salvatore marries Ninetta Bagarella^[2], the sister of Leoluca Bagarella, in 1974, and they have four children^[3]: Maria Concetta (c. 1975), Giovanni (c. 1976), Giuseppe Salvatore (c. 1977), and Lucia.^[4]

Riina had a number of public figures executed, including anti-Mafia crusaders and magistrates who prosecuted the Mafia in the courts.

In the Second Mafia War, the Corleonese overpowered their enemy factions in Palermo, to win the lucrative heroin trade, among other rackets, from the Palermitans.

Before the war, Riina and his closest associates live in hiding, in contrast to their counterparts in Palermo. As the most powerful mafiosi in Sicily, Riina is suspected of having relationships with such powerful political figures as Palermo mayors Vito Ciancimino and Salvatore Lima, and the Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti.

For the last 24 years of his life, Toto is imprisoned in Parma. He is considered a most dangerous inmate.

Maria Concetta, named after her paternal grandmother, marries Antonino Ciavarello in 2001.^[5]

Lucia, named after her maternal grandmother, marries Vincenzo Bellomo^[6] on 23 July 2008.^[4]

Death of Toto

Toto dies at age 87 in prison in Parma, Italy on 17 November 2017.^[7]

Ciavarello, 44 (b. 1973), Riina's son in law, is sentenced to six months house arrest that December for fraud.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ He is named in the Tribunale di Bari from 10 June 1969, and reprinted in Zingales' book. Zingales, Leone. "Provenzano: Il Re di Cosa Nostra." Accessed online 24 January 2016.
2. ↑ Alison Jamieson. The Antimafia: Italy's Fight Against Organized Crime. Springer, 2000. Accessed https://books.google.com/books?id=Sf3MCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=1969+mafia+trial+in+bari+italy&source=bl&ots=4_sdW9ldIv&sig=CR2oseiYq5I0upiimtQa1dU5fKw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9q73H3s3MAhXMWj4KHQbWCBsQ6AEIKjAC#v=onepage&q=Bagarella&f=false 9 May 2016.
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leoluca_Bagarella
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Giovanni Bianconi. "Il figlio di Riina: via da Corleone meglio Cornusco sul Naviglio." Published 21 November 2008. Accessed http://www.corriere.it/cronache/08_novembre_21/Riina_corleone_Cernusco_4d4307b8-b796-11dd-a50b-00144f02aabc.shtml 6 June 2016.
5. ↑ "Inchino sotto casa di lady Riina, il genero su Facebook: 'Buffoni sindacalista e giornalista'" Published 4 June 2016. Accessed http://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2016/06/04/news/inchino_sotto_casa_di_lady_riina_il_genero_su_facebook_buffoni_sindacalista_e_giornalista_-141281285/ 6 June 2016.
6. ↑ Riccardo Lo Verso. "Messina Denaro e il genero di Riina Storia di un incontro 'mancato.'" Published 8 January 2014. Accessed http://livesicilia.it/2014/01/08/riina-messina-denaro-incontro_426760/ 6 June 2016.
7. ↑ Palazzolo, Salvo. "E' morto Totò Riina, il 'capo dei capi'. Il boss mafioso da 24 anni era al 41 bis." Published 17 November 2017. http://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2017/11/17/news/e_morto_il_boss_toto_riina_da_24_anni_era_al_41_bis-181309472/ Accessed 17 November 2017.
8. ↑ ANSA. "Riina daughter opens Uncle Totò webshop." Published 5 December 2017. http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2017/12/05/riina-daughter-opens-uncle-toto-webshop-4_4468d2b2-6004-41bf-99f0-9b3d309fd6e0.html Accessed 17 December 2017.