THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Great thread. To use Angelo’s framework: It sounds like women in Italy may be invovled operationally to help run the organization when most of the men get locked up, but they may not be formal members organizationally.

https://youtu.be/oG0K5l6unj4?si=BXu25pyTe1OXqhzv


Pretty good example of Ndrangheta female boss - and she did NOT flip which was surprising to me she even did a video like that.

[quote=OmarSantista post_id=292905 time=1745815135 user_id=6842]
[quote=B. post_id=292870 time=1745727092 user_id=127]
In Nino Calderone's book he said women can't be involved in Cosa Nostra because they talk too much.
[/quote]

Is there a specific Diego Gambetta book you'd reccomend?
[/quote]

The Sicilian Mafia: Business of Private Protection

Good stuff...

[quote=B. post_id=292870 time=1745727092 user_id=127]
In Nino Calderone's book he said women can't be involved in Cosa Nostra because they talk too much.
[/quote]

Is there a specific Diego Gambetta book you'd reccomend?

In Nino Calderone's book he said women can't be involved in Cosa Nostra because they talk too much.

Rosalia Messina Denaro & Giusy Vitale are perfect examples. Giuseppina Pesce, sister of Ciccio Pesce & daughter of Salvatore Pesce head of an Ndrina in Rosarno was involved in clan operations before cooperating against her blood family. It's interesting in the show Good Mothers on hulu, they portrayed Giuseppina siting down and talking operations with her clan. A portrayal I found to be more believable in those circles was seeing Salvatore's wife kind of blatantly eaves dropping outside of a room of clan members and only spoke after asking if she could, once given permission she entered the room, which leaves room for some grey area in terms of what is allowed for women in these circles without feeling dishonorable to the tradition as a man. Yes the Ndrangheta Camorra and CN are different but more alike than different like some one stated earlier. Lagano's daughter is another good example, probably will do time if she isn't already, is around big names in the Lucc's and Gen's yet will never be proposed because that's not traditional Italian OC. I highly recommend the Good Mothers on hulu to get a glimpse of what life is like for women born into Ndrangheta.

Currently watching SEND NO FLOWERS on Tubi and it's American version of female boss daughter taking over

Pretty good considering

[quote=Proletarian187 post_id=291747 time=1744028864 user_id=8432]
it might be the closest thing to a donna d'onore we've seen in Sicily.
[/quote]

I believe this honor goes to a person I mentioned earlier in the thread Rosalia Messina Denaro who’s brother was the highest ranking boss in Sicily so while not an initiated member of Cosa Nostra she was treated as such by the members of the Castelvetrano family because she was acting on behalf of him.

[i]Rosalia Messina Denaro, 67, also known as Rosetta, was herself detained in Sicily on mafia membership charges on Friday, with the Carabinieri - Italian police - releasing a 57-page arrest warrant detailing some of the circumstances which led to her brother's earlier arrest.

The warrant reveals that police found a note inside the leg of an aluminium chair in Rosalia's home in the town of Castelvetrano, in the west of the island, while trying to plant a listening device inside during an operation in December.

She is alleged to have played a major role in her mafia family, acting as treasurer, with police saying she communicated with her brother using the code name "Fragolone", or "big strawberry".
The warrant described Rosalia as a woman with "origins and traditions all inspired by an orthodox and rock-hard mafia culture".

The warrant says she is under investigation for being part of the mafia organisation and committing crimes through her membership, helping her brother escape numerous jail sentences, helping him continue in his role as boss of the organisation, and making sure other members of the organisation could communicate with him while he was hiding from the authorities.[/i]

One interesting case from Sicily is that of Giusy Vitale. She was alleged to be the de facto boss of Partinico in 1998. With three brothers in jail or on the run she was utilized both as an acting Boss and a messenger. She was 27 yrs old at the time.

It seems she was accepted both in and out of Partinico, as she personally met with both LeoLuca Bagarella and Giovanni Brusca.

It wasn’t "official", she wasn’t a member and she was arrested two months later and flipped. But still, it might be the closest thing to a donna d'onore we've seen in Sicily.

Makes me think of the movie THE KITCHEN

Pretty decent

Been lotta Tubi gangster movies coming out lately
Interesting a few on mafia women

Its been a very long time since reading the book Gomorrah but when I read it it had I wanna say 3 separate stories on female bosses

Licarddi
Scissor group of the secogidgloano clan
And Il pupparo

And I remember reading about a few others as well.

In all 3 case the women started there reigns bc there husbands were imprisoned bosses - but it seemed all 3 got power hungry and took over after awhile

Similar to how they did it in the TV show

[quote=sdeitche post_id=291677 time=1743864447 user_id=5233]
Curious how many instances of women working with their male Mafia counterparts (e.g. husbands, brothers, etc) there are?

In Tampa there are several examples of women being involved in bolita operations. Frank Diecidue and his wife Rose comes to mind. She was arrested with him.
In the 70s the California Rivero bolita syndicate (tied to the Trafficantes) employed women as sellers.
[/quote]

It wasn't too rare for wives, sisters, mothers, and female relatives to help with gambling operations, bootlegging, and those kinds of operations even among the Sicilians. Nothing remotely organizational but low-level operational assistance wasn't uncommon.

Really good Info gents. Great contributions all

[quote=sdeitche post_id=291677 time=1743864447 user_id=5233]
Curious how many instances of women working with their male Mafia counterparts (e.g. husbands, brothers, etc) there are?

In Tampa there are several examples of women being involved in bolita operations. Frank Diecidue and his wife Rose comes to mind. She was arrested with him.
In the 70s the California Rivero bolita syndicate (tied to the Trafficantes) employed women as sellers.
[/quote]

If I recall correctly, Chauncey Smaldones wife was involved in the Denver mobs gambling activities and was even the victim of an attempted shooting.

Curious how many instances of women working with their male Mafia counterparts (e.g. husbands, brothers, etc) there are?

In Tampa there are several examples of women being involved in bolita operations. Frank Diecidue and his wife Rose comes to mind. She was arrested with him.
In the 70s the California Rivero bolita syndicate (tied to the Trafficantes) employed women as sellers.