Vito Genovese

Vito Genovese (Italian: [ˈviːto dʒenoˈveːze, -eːse]; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mafioso and the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York City. A childhood friend and criminal associate of Lucky Luciano, Genovese took part in the Castellammarese War and helped Luciano shape the Mafia's rise as a major force in organized crime in the United States. He would later lead Luciano's crime family, which was renamed by the FBI after Genovese in 1957.

Along with Luciano, Genovese facilitated the expansion of the heroin trade to an international level. He fled to Italy in 1937, and for a brief period during World War II he supported Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime for fear of being deported back to the U.S. to face murder charges. After returning to the U.S. in 1945, Genovese served as mentor to Vincent "Chin" Gigante, the future boss of the Genovese family.

In 1957, Genovese vied for the title of capo di tutti capi (boss of bosses) by ordering the murder of Albert Anastasia and the botched hit of Frank Costello. Immediately following this, he called a mafia summit to consolidate his power, but the meeting was raided by police. In 1959, Genovese's reign was cut short as he was convicted on narcotics conspiracy charges and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. While he and his underling Joe Valachi were in prison together, Valachi killed an inmate he thought to be a hitman sent by Genovese. Valachi then became a government witness. Genovese died in prison on February 14, 1969.

Vito Genovese was born on November 21, 1897, in Risigliano, a frazione in the comune of Tufino, in the Province of Naples, Italy. His father was Frances Felice Genovese and his mother Nunziata Aluotto. Vito had a sister, Giovanna Jennie (m. Ricciotto Prisco), along with two brothers, Michael and Carmine, who later joined Genovese's crime family. His cousin, Michael, became boss of the Pittsburgh crime family.

As a child in Italy, Genovese completed school only to the American equivalent of the fifth grade. In 1913, when Genovese was aged 15, his family immigrated to the United States onboard the SS Taormina and took up residence in New York City's Little Italy.

Until 1934, Genovese lived in New York City. In 1935, looking for a place where his family could be "out in the country"^{[clarification needed]}, Genovese purchased a mansion in rural Middletown Township, New Jersey. The mansion's grounds were extensively landscaped into Italian gardens evoking Genovese's homeland, and included a small rock replica of Mount Vesuvius. Today, it is the site a public botanical gardens called Deep Cut Gardens.

In 1937 while Genovese was in Italy due to the Boccia murder, the mansion burnt down and was never rebuilt. After the mansions' destruction, he and his family lived a quiet life in a house in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.

Genovese started his criminal career stealing merchandise from pushcart vendors and running errands for mobsters. He later collected money from people who played illegal lotteries. At 19, Genovese spent a year in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.