What was the Combaneesh?

[Angelo Santino]

Im try to made about ranks between societies

Good job. It's confusing stuff and some elements are left up to the interpreter.

It's hard to compare the 19th century camorra to the 20th century 'ndrangheta to the mafia which has remained the same. As I said, I'm no expert on the modern 'ndrangheta so it's hard for me to elaborate from any authoritative position. I can compare the mafia to camorra though:

1 Boss of bosses was supreme ruler over the entire Mafia (in Sicily or in America). Camorra never had a supreme ruler. Capintesta was voted by local capintriti/capisocieta. There was a capintesta for Naples, Salerno, Terra di Lavoro, etc.

2 Capintesta might be best compared to the Mafia's mandamento. He controls his own group but was voted to be a rep for his and other local groups.

3 Capintrito is the same as caposocieta. It's a society boss over a district or prison room. In Naples there were 12 capintriti. They are the early version of 'ndrini. Comparing them to rappresentanti depends on one's interpretation, technically they headed their own groups but weren't in charge over an entire city and had no captains.

4 Underboss/Contaluolo, both of these are the official number 2 positions within mafia and camorra but their functions are different. Traditionally the Under was an aide meant to serve as a VP selected by the boss. The contaluolo was a voted upon position (like that of consig) and handled the financial aspects of the org. Each capintrito had a contaluolo as did the picciotti in the minor society. If you look at the modern camorra today, they still utilize accountants even though there is no longer a camorra society.

5 Da Giornata is arguably closer to the role filled by Underboss but lacked the authority of one.

6 Paranza was what the major society called their annual meetings. Chiorma was what the minor society called their annual meetings.

7 Borgata vs Locale... I don't have the answer for that, they're both different. They are arranged in the same fashion but ndrina bosses aren't like captains to the Locale Boss who has his own group. It might be more accurate to compare ndrina bosses to borgata bosses, except 'ndrina bosses dont have captains.

8 The Camorra had a governing body identified in the 1890's called mamasantissima, it wasn't created in the 70's by the 'ndrangheta.

9 To bring the ndrangheta into this comparison is to change the game to 3d chess. It's an evolved version of the original society. Like comparing a small plant to a fully grown tree. Actually that makes sense, here's some code confiscated by the calabrian camorra in america in 1927 (which also mentions the 3 Spanish knights:

“From this day on, it will be baptized the Tree of Knowledge. Behold the stem which must represent the leader of the Honorable Society. Behold the branches that must represent the arm of the Society. Behold the smaller branches of this tree which represent the Picciotti di Sgarro. Behold the flowers which represent the Giovani d'Honore. And all those leaves that you see on the ground are leaves that, not having the strength to keep their place upon the plant, fell, and they represent our comrades who have fallen into disgrace. If this tree is uprooted by a storm or by the police, this tree will revive more strongly and vigorous than before.”

[Eline2015]

Im try to made about ranks between societies

Good job. It's confusing stuff and some elements are left up to the interpreter.

It's hard to compare the 19th century camorra to the 20th century 'ndrangheta to the mafia which has remained the same. As I said, I'm no expert on the modern 'ndrangheta so it's hard for me to elaborate from any authoritative position. I can compare the mafia to camorra though:

1 Boss of bosses was supreme ruler over the entire Mafia (in Sicily or in America). Camorra never had a supreme ruler. Capintesta was voted by local capintriti/capisocieta. There was a capintesta for Naples, Salerno, Terra di Lavoro, etc.

2 Capintesta might be best compared to the Mafia's mandamento. He controls his own group but was voted to be a rep for his and other local groups.

3 Capintrito is the same as caposocieta. It's a society boss over a district or prison room. In Naples there were 12 capintriti. They are the early version of 'ndrini. Comparing them to rappresentanti depends on one's interpretation, technically they headed their own groups but weren't in charge over an entire city and had no captains.

4 Underboss/Contaluolo, both of these are the official number 2 positions within mafia and camorra but their functions are different. Traditionally the Under was an aide meant to serve as a VP selected by the boss. The contaluolo was a voted upon position (like that of consig) and handled the financial aspects of the org. Each capintrito had a contaluolo as did the picciotti in the minor society. If you look at the modern camorra today, they still utilize accountants even though there is no longer a camorra society.

5 Da Giornata is arguably closer to the role filled by Underboss but lacked the authority of one.

6 Paranza was what the major society called their annual meetings. Chiorma was what the minor society called their annual meetings.

7 Borgata vs Locale... I don't have the answer for that, they're both different. They are arranged in the same fashion but ndrina bosses aren't like captains to the Locale Boss who has his own group. It might be more accurate to compare ndrina bosses to borgata bosses, except 'ndrina bosses dont have captains.

8 The Camorra had a governing body identified in the 1890's called mamasantissima, it wasn't created in the 70's by the 'ndrangheta.

9 To bring the ndrangheta into this comparison is to change the game to 3d chess. It's an evolved version of the original society. Like comparing a small plant to a fully grown tree. Actually that makes sense, here's some code confiscated by the calabrian camorra in america in 1927 (which also mentions the 3 Spanish knights:

“From this day on, it will be baptized the Tree of Knowledge. Behold the stem which must represent the leader of the Honorable Society. Behold the branches that must represent the arm of the Society. Behold the smaller branches of this tree which represent the Picciotti di Sgarro. Behold the flowers which represent the Giovani d'Honore. And all those leaves that you see on the ground are leaves that, not having the strength to keep their place upon the plant, fell, and they represent our comrades who have fallen into disgrace. If this tree is uprooted by a storm or by the police, this tree will revive more strongly and vigorous than before.”

I didn’t know that capintesta was still outside of Naples. The capintesta was elected every year at a meeting by the rest of the capintriti, like a capo crimine. in terms of functionality and responsibilities, he resembles the capo dei capi that he is the main mediator. Aniello Ausiello was the first capintesta who began to ignore the democratic rules of election and was in power for six years. Under Ciccio Cappuccio, the capintesta will be almost a lifelong position without an annual vote. When candidates receive almost the same number of votes in the voting, the one with the largest number of votes becomes the capintesta, and the second one becomes the vice capintesta.
I thought caposocieta was just a synonym for capolocale.

[Angelo Santino]

I didn’t know that capintesta was still outside of Naples. The capintesta was elected every year at a meeting by the rest of the capintriti, like a capo crimine. in terms of functionality and responsibilities, he resembles the capo dei capi that he is the main mediator. Aniello Ausiello was the first capintesta who began to ignore the democratic rules of election and was in power for six years. Under Ciccio Cappuccio, the capintesta will be almost a lifelong position without an annual vote. When candidates receive almost the same number of votes in the voting, the one with the largest number of votes becomes the capintesta, and the second one becomes the capintesta.
I thought caposocieta was just a synonym for capolocale.

Yeah, this has been written about as well: "Negli anni dell’unificazione nazionale capintesta della camorra era Salvatore De Crescenzo, Tore ’e Criscienzo. Capo dell’organizzazione criminale della Terra di Lavoro era Francesco Zampella, cui De Crescenzo, per antica amicizia, riconosceva
solo formalmente il titolo di capintesta del Casertano, senza però alcun riconoscimento di autonomia. Poi il comando passò nelle mani della camorra di Aversa e aumentarono le istanze di autonomia rispetto ai capintesta napoletani. Bisognerà attendere la fine dell’Ottocento perché l’organizzazione criminale della Terra di Lavoro proclami la sua autonomia eleggendo capintesta l’aversano Vincenzo Serra, senza più reazioni dalla casa madre dell’ex capitale."

Caposocieta ("society head") and capintrito ("district head") were synonymous, but could also be applied to capintesta ("head master"). Society is a convoluted word because it can be used to describe the overall society ("onorata societa"), the loggia/locale (city society), the district (ndrito/ndrina) to the class of membership (camorrista, picciotto, or giovinotto). It's no different than the terminology in America, "boss" depends on who is using it. Two made members discussing the boss most likely refers to the rappresentante whereas two associates discussing their boss would likely refer to the member whom they are with (regardless of what position within the mafia).

[Eline2015]

I didn’t know that capintesta was still outside of Naples. The capintesta was elected every year at a meeting by the rest of the capintriti, like a capo crimine. in terms of functionality and responsibilities, he resembles the capo dei capi that he is the main mediator. Aniello Ausiello was the first capintesta who began to ignore the democratic rules of election and was in power for six years. Under Ciccio Cappuccio, the capintesta will be almost a lifelong position without an annual vote. When candidates receive almost the same number of votes in the voting, the one with the largest number of votes becomes the capintesta, and the second one becomes the capintesta.
I thought caposocieta was just a synonym for capolocale.

Yeah, this has been written about as well: "Negli anni dell’unificazione nazionale capintesta della camorra era Salvatore De Crescenzo, Tore ’e Criscienzo. Capo dell’organizzazione criminale della Terra di Lavoro era Francesco Zampella, cui De Crescenzo, per antica amicizia, riconosceva
solo formalmente il titolo di capintesta del Casertano, senza però alcun riconoscimento di autonomia. Poi il comando passò nelle mani della camorra di Aversa e aumentarono le istanze di autonomia rispetto ai capintesta napoletani. Bisognerà attendere la fine dell’Ottocento perché l’organizzazione criminale della Terra di Lavoro proclami la sua autonomia eleggendo capintesta l’aversano Vincenzo Serra, senza più reazioni dalla casa madre dell’ex capitale."

Caposocieta ("society head") and capintrito ("district head") were synonymous, but could also be applied to capintesta ("head master"). Society is a convoluted word because it can be used to describe the overall society ("onorata societa"), the loggia/locale (city society), the district (ndrito/ndrina) to the class of membership (camorrista, picciotto, or giovinotto). It's no different than the terminology in America, "boss" depends on who is using it. Two made members discussing the boss most likely refers to the rappresentante whereas two associates discussing their boss would likely refer to the member whom they are with (regardless of what position within the mafia he holds).

Thanks for the replying. I'm fascinating about early camorra, and I'm really glad that we discuss this topic

[Angelo Santino]

Same. I've sat on this for years just gathering information but this mainland society is like the Sicilian one- there's always more to be found.

By the 1850's, the camorra in prison consisted of more than Neapolitans, it also included Catanzaresi, Regginesi, Cosentini, Pugliesi, Potentini, Salernitani, Abruzzesi, Sicilians and natives from Terra di Lavoro. They didn't always get along and there were breakouts of prison fights among them. These inmates took their affiliations home and formed it there. If you look at the Neapolitan frieno ("articles") they state that Naples is the capital but other groups refused to recognize them. It's like Merlino now, some like the Gens recognize him while the Luccheses allegedly don't.

Naples was the capital so it received all the attention, just like New York did. Granted both were the epicenters of their respective mafias but doesn't mean these groups only existed there. Camorra was a southern Italy problem, it wasn't confined to Naples or even Campania.

[Eline2015]

Sigismondo Castromediano wrote that when he was in prison before Rissorgimento he was extorted by Sicilian who called himself a camorrista

[Angelo Santino]

Sigismondo Castromediano wrote that when he was in prison before Rissorgimento he was extorted by Sicilian who called himself a camorrista

Not only that but a leader! This was at mid-century meaning non-Naps were most likely a factor for quite some time. I heard rumblings without tangible evidence that the camorra in Cosenza goes back to the 1830's.

[PolackTony]

Sigismondo Castromediano wrote that when he was in prison before Rissorgimento he was extorted by Sicilian who called himself a camorrista

Correct. Men from all over the Mezzogiorno (then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) were thrown in together in the same prisons after all. Castromediano (an anti-Bourbon Duke from Puglia imprisoned during the 1850s in the infamous prison island and Camorra stronghold of Procida) also stated that the Camorristi in the prison system were divided into two violently opposed camps: the Napoletani (including provincial Campanesi along with the Pugliesi) vs the Calabresi (which included men not just from Reggio but the entirety of Calabria). He wasn’t specific on where Sicilians may have fallen, but seems to indicate that all of those not from Campania and Puglia fell in with the Calabrese faction. Another source, however, for the same period gave a somewhat different breakdown for the opposing regional blocs so it’s a bit unclear what the actual factions were (though we can conclude that the prison Camorra was shaped by some degree of regional hostility).

[PolackTony]

There weren’t only inter-regional tensions but also ties, of course, and this was true in the Societies outside of prison also. When the “Società di Camorra” in Nicastro, Catanzaro was busted in the mid-1880s, it was claimed during the trial that they were in contact with the infamous Ciccio Cappuccio, capintesta of Napoli. A trial in Cosenza a number of years later revealed that the Società there would receive visiting Camorristi from not only Reggio but also Campania. Presumably there were many more such contacts and relationships beyond those that were documented by the authorities.

[Angelo Santino]

There weren’t only inter-regional tensions but also ties, of course, and this was true in the Societies outside of prison also. When the “Società di Camorra” in Nicastro, Catanzaro was busted in the mid-1880s, it was claimed during the trial that they were in contact with the infamous Ciccio Cappuccio, capintesta of Napoli. A trial in Cosenza a number of years later revealed that the Società there would receive visiting Camorristi from not only Reggio but also Campania. Presumably there were many more such contacts and relationships beyond those that were documented by the authorities.

Correct.

Campanian members made their way to Canonsburg, where they ultimately fell under the "state leader" who was situated in Pittsburgh. I'm not sure what "state leader" would translate to but Mauro was the ranking officer of Western PA, West Virginia and Cleveland. He was from Sambiase (the same place the Ruberto's of Chicago Heights came from) and maintained connections to that area as well as Hester Street in NYC. So in America, the dynamic was the same with mainlanders as it was with Sicilians- some groups were more homogeneous while others were more diverse. I'll get to that. All things in time.

[PolackTony]

There weren’t only inter-regional tensions but also ties, of course, and this was true in the Societies outside of prison also. When the “Società di Camorra” in Nicastro, Catanzaro was busted in the mid-1880s, it was claimed during the trial that they were in contact with the infamous Ciccio Cappuccio, capintesta of Napoli. A trial in Cosenza a number of years later revealed that the Società there would receive visiting Camorristi from not only Reggio but also Campania. Presumably there were many more such contacts and relationships beyond those that were documented by the authorities.

Correct.

Campanian members made their way to Canonsburg, where they ultimately fell under the "state leader" who was situated in Pittsburgh. I'm not sure what "state leader" would translate to but Mauro was the ranking officer of Western PA, West Virginia and Cleveland. He was from Sambiase (the same place the Ruberto's of Chicago Heights came from) and maintained connections to that area as well as Hester Street in NYC. So in America, the dynamic was the same with mainlanders as it was with Sicilians- some groups were more homogeneous while others were more diverse. I'll get to that. All things in time.

To point out to the reader also, since you brought up Mauro. Sambiase is like a twin town to Nicastro, which I mentioned in my post (not just the Rubertos but their cousin Frank LaPorte was from Sambiase); both have since been joined into the modern city of Lamezia Terme. In 1896, a few years after the trial of Camorristi in Nicastro, the authorities cracked down on the Società di Camorra in Sambiase as well (it seems that both towns had their own Societies, though the authorities stated that the affiliates in both towns were “related”). The capo of Sambiase at the time was reported to be an Antonio Ruberto (I don’t have any definitive proof tying him to the Chicago Heights Rubertos, though it’s obviously a good chance that they were related), and it was claimed that he had succeeded a Raffaele Amendola as boss. Amendola reportedly had fled justice to the US with a number of other local “Camorristi D’Onore”, though I was never able to verify his arrival in the US myself (possible that if he was in fact a fugitive, he may have used a false identity). Migrants from Sambiase often headed to Western PA or the Chicago area.

(Source for this here was Enzo Cicconte’s book “‘Ndrangheta dall'Unità a oggi”)

[Angelo Santino]

There weren’t only inter-regional tensions but also ties, of course, and this was true in the Societies outside of prison also. When the “Società di Camorra” in Nicastro, Catanzaro was busted in the mid-1880s, it was claimed during the trial that they were in contact with the infamous Ciccio Cappuccio, capintesta of Napoli. A trial in Cosenza a number of years later revealed that the Società there would receive visiting Camorristi from not only Reggio but also Campania. Presumably there were many more such contacts and relationships beyond those that were documented by the authorities.

Correct.

Campanian members made their way to Canonsburg, where they ultimately fell under the "state leader" who was situated in Pittsburgh. I'm not sure what "state leader" would translate to but Mauro was the ranking officer of Western PA, West Virginia and Cleveland. He was from Sambiase (the same place the Ruberto's of Chicago Heights came from) and maintained connections to that area as well as Hester Street in NYC. So in America, the dynamic was the same with mainlanders as it was with Sicilians- some groups were more homogeneous while others were more diverse. I'll get to that. All things in time.

To point out to the reader also, since you brought up Mauro. Sambiase is like a twin town to Nicastro, which I mentioned in my post (not just the Rubertos but their cousin Frank LaPorte was from Sambiase); both have since been joined into the modern city of Lamezia Terme. In 1896, a few years after the trial of Camorristi in Nicastro, the authorities cracked down on the Società di Camorra in Sambiase as well (it seems that both towns had their own Societies, though the authorities stated that the affiliates in both towns were “related”). The capo of Sambiase at the time was reported to be an Antonio Ruberto (I don’t have any definitive proof tying him to the Chicago Heights Rubertos, though it’s obviously a good chance that they were related), and it was claimed that he had succeeded a Raffaele Amendola as boss. Amendola reportedly had fled justice to the US with a number of other local “Camorristi D’Onore”, though I was never able to verify his arrival in the US myself (possible that if he was in fact a fugitive, he may have used a false identity). Migrants from Sambiase often headed to Western PA or the Chicago area.

(Source for this here was Enzo Cicconte’s book “‘Ndrangheta dall'Unità a oggi”)

Pittsburgh, especially the Hill in downtown (now a college) was Catanzaresi central. Sambiase, Gizzeria and Nicastro and surrounding cities like Falerno (where Detective Peter Angelo nee Pietro Augello was from. He was heralded as the next Petrosino after the man's death, he was on the take and resigned in shame after an illustrious career. In the 1920's a boss was murdered in his home, his bodyguard was Peter Angelo, make of that what you will). You wanted Reggesi you had to go to Glenwood which was headed up by Zumbo. (When the Milanos (RC's) of CL got in trouble with the SS, they went to Pittsburch to see Mauro who sent them to see Zumbo) The Catanzaresi are technically Calabrese but they share more in common culturally with the Campanians than they do the Reggesi. The trial you are speaking of, which laid all the camorra stuff, also stated some members fled to America. I have not been able to locate them. I would suspect they went to NE, NY, PB or Chi Heights. Our dear Mauro, in his 1920 census has Dominick Volpe living with him. Dom was the camorrista da giornata at that time. In 1910. Mauro was living with a "Ralph Alberte," who was 50. I wonder if that was an alias that might have been one of the guys in the Sambiase case. Perhaps Mauro's predecessor. Another thing about these Calabrians is building tunnels underground. They cover it today but in Pittsburgh circa 1904 they were building tunnels back then underground between establishments.

Also the camora in Sewickley was rounded up in 1908, the police found their articles. They are EXACTLY the same articles found in the Society of the Banana case which contained mostly Sicilians. It's a glitch in the matrix and I can't wrap my head around that. Like I said prior, for everything I know there's 100 things I don't.

[B.]

Something to note -- even though Camorristi began joining Cosa Nostra as early as the mid-late 1910s, it wasn't one single moment where they all fell together even within a single Family. The Genovese had been bringing in Camorristi for many years yet Richie Boiardo resisted the mafia through the Castellammarese War and wasn't made until the 1940s even though his contemporaries had been made pre-1931.

It wasn't as if the mafia or the Camorristi were like "Okay, we're joining forces and our members become your members." Camorristi were made into Cosa Nostra selectively and at different times, plus some Camorristi never joined Cosa Nostra at all.

Moretti being a confirmed Camorrista is particularly interesting given he was welcomed into Magaddino's orbit in Buffalo before becoming a force within the Genovese Family. Buffalo though as we know wasn't opposed to bringing Calabrian Camorristi/'ndranghetisti in and around the Family during Magaddino's reign so Moretti could have been an early example whether he was made or simply an associate of Buffalo.

[Angelo Santino]

Something to note -- even though Camorristi began joining Cosa Nostra as early as the mid-late 1910s, it wasn't one single moment where they all fell together even within a single Family. The Genovese had been bringing in Camorristi for many years yet Richie Boiardo resisted the mafia through the Castellammarese War and wasn't made until the 1940s even though his contemporaries had been made pre-1931.

It wasn't as if the mafia or the Camorristi were like "Okay, we're joining forces and our members become your members." Camorristi were made into Cosa Nostra selectively and at different times, plus some Camorristi never joined Cosa Nostra at all.

Moretti being a confirmed Camorrista is particularly interesting given he was welcomed into Magaddino's orbit in Buffalo before becoming a force within the Genovese Family. Buffalo though as we know wasn't opposed to bringing Calabrian Camorristi/'ndranghetisti in and around the Family during Magaddino's reign so Moretti could have been an early example whether he was made or simply an associate of Buffalo.

Yep. You're right, you always are.

But for further discussion, according to Gentile, Capone was made a member and immediate capodecina with the power to bring in ten members of his decina. We might want to assume the same thing happened with Rocco Pellegrino and my own personal take is: we don't know. The members surnames of the 1910s Westchester Camorra which had Rocco Pellegrino as the Camorra society's 1st lieut. don't match the 1960s list of Rocco as Gen capodecina. Alot can change in half a century and maybe by the 1960's if there were any camorristi brought in to Pellegrino's decina were deceased by then. We don't know.

[PolackTony]

In 1910. Mauro was living with a "Ralph Alberte," who was 50. I wonder if that was an alias that might have been one of the guys in the Sambiase case.

Right, in 1910, Ferdinando Mauro was recorded as living as a boarder in the apartment of a “Ralph Alberte” in the Hill district of Pittsburgh. “Alberte” had stated that he was an English speaker, worked as a book keeper at a bank, was born in 1853 in Italy, and had entered the US in 1907. Given the first name, we’d want to know if there is any possibility that he was Raffaele Amendola, the reputed caposocietà of Sambiase alleged to have fled to the US prior to the 1896 trial. The only possible match I was able to find was a Raffaele Alberti who entered the US at Boston in 1906 bound for Chenango County, NY. He was a Northerner, however, and said that he was born in 1869. I haven’t been able to find any other info on “Ralph Alberte” in Pittsburgh aside from the 1910 census record. Given that he was living with Mauro, we can presume that he was probably connected to the Camorra.

Neither of us were able to confirm Amendola’s arrival in the US, but if he used in alias or assumed identity it may not be possible to confirm it. As one prominent example, look at Felice De Lucia, who also fled justice in Italy and then lived prominently for decades in Chicago as “Paolo Ricca”, a stolen identity, until his true identity was uncovered by the Feds.