He became the boss of one of Chicago’s largest mafia families at just 26.
The famous American gangster Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899. His birth name was Alphonse Gabriel Capone, and he came from a family who immigrated to the United States from Italy. The Capone family emigrated from Italy to the US via Rijeka. Namely, Rijeka was then an important port in Austro-Hungary, and from it went overseas steamers in the direction of America. After arriving in the US, the Capone’s settled in Brooklyn, New York’s famous neighborhood. Al Capone was born in Brooklyn and was born, just a few years after his parents moved from Europe.
Capone climbed the mafia ladder from a young age, first in New York and then in Chicago. He was nicknamed Scareface at a young age because of a knife cut in his left cheek in one incident.
At only 26, Al became the head of one of the largest mafia families with over 1000 members. Although Capone was a murderer, pimp, pruder, and alcohol dealer, the public loved him. He was often seen in the company of politicians, business people and movie stars. He restricted jobs to only those that the public liked, alcohol, gambling and women
In February 1929, Capone organized the famous Valentine’s Day massacre when his men killed 6 rival mobsters and 1 random passerby. Although the FBI had been trying to arrest him for years for the murders and smuggling of alcohol, Al Capone ended up in prison for tax evasion in 1931. He served his prison sentence in the famous Alcatraz, where it was not easy at all. Specifically, although he had financial help from outside, and some mafia friends, there were several attempts to kill Big Al. He was stabbed in the back, there were attempts of poisoning, strangulation …
He was released from prison in 1939, severely ill with syphilis whose infection spread to the brain. Chicago’s former fear and tremor was treated in Miami, but until its death in 1947 it vegetated and never visited the city it once ruled.
