Giacomo Riina (1908)

Born 10 Nov 1908 in Corleone, Palermo, Italy

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Concetta Leggio — married 30 Mar 1940 in Corleone, Palermo, Italy

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Biography

Gioachino Riina is born 10 November 1908 and baptized five days later. He is the son of Salvatore Riina and Francesca Paola Cuccia. His godfather is Paolo Labruzzo, who is unmarried.^[1]

The margin note on this record indicates that Gioachino marries Maria Concetta Leggio on 30 March 1940 in the S. Rosalia church in Corleone.^[1] Her parents' names do not appear, but it is likely that this is Leggio-37, who appears as a defendant, along with two of her brothers and four of her nephews, in the 1969 trial in Bari.^[2]

Note: There is another Gioachino Riina, close in age, the son of Biagio, who marries Giovanna Leggio in 1940. Giovanna is Maria Concetta's sister.

Gioachino is arrested with Luciano Leggio in 1942 for cigarette smuggling. Gioachino is called perhaps the most evil Mafioso who ever lived, a quote Jones attributes to Italian journalist Christian Lovatelli Ravarino, who interviewed Riina as an old man in exile.

Gioachino is a close aide to Leggio, along with Calogero Bagarella and Giovanni Ruffino, after 1944.^[3]

Jones says that Gioachino is an uncle of Toto Riina, and a close relative of Luciano Leggio through one of his sisters. Luciano does not have a sister named Maria Concetta (though it's possible there is another marriage that relates the two gangsters). The woman who I have presumed to be Gioachino's wife is part of a large extended family who appear as defendants in 1969, a branch of the Leggio family through which I have not yet found a connection to Luciano. Cascio-10 12:38, 8 May 2016 (EDT) Gioachino and Toto are second cousins, once removed.

Gioachino (Giacomo) and his brother, Pietro, both appear as defendants in the 1969 trial in Bari.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Baptism of Jacobus Riina, record no. 388, 15 November 1908, "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12350-69033-67?cc=2046915 : accessed 27 February 2016), Corleone > San Martino > Battesimi 1906-1911 > image 223 of 437; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Zingales, Leone. "Provenzano: Il Re di Cosa Nostra." Accessed online 24 January 2016.
3. ↑ Thom L. Jones. "La Primula Rossa: The story of Luciano Leggio (Part 1)." Accessed online 30 September 2015.