Capone - Biography

Last Editor: snowbaby9				Capone Biography -   Name : Capone Profession : Gangster

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Capone Detailed Biography -

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al "Scarface" Capone, was an infamous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. A Neapolitan born in New York, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming Chicago's most notorious crime figure. By the end of the 1920s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had placed Capone on its "Most Wanted" list. Capone's downfall occurred in 1931 when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion and sent to the notorious island prison Alcatraz. Alphonse Capone was born to Gabriele Capone (1865–1920) and his wife Teresina "T(h)eresa" Raiola (December 28, 1867–1952) in Brooklyn, New York, at the turn of the 20th century. Gabriele was a barber from Castellammare di Stabia, a village about twenty-five kilometers south of Naples, Italy. Teresina was a seamstress and the daughter of Angelo Raiola from Angri, a town in the province of Salerno. The Capones emigrated to the United States in 1894, and settled in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. The couple had seven sons and two daughters: Vincenzo Capone (1892–October 1, 1952). Called James Vincenzo Capone upon entering the United States. He left the family in 1908 to join a circus operating in the Midwest. Served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I. Apparently changed his name to Richard Joseph Hart shortly after his discharge. He had a career as a law enforcement officer, served in the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and later became Marshal in Homer, Nebraska. Raffaele Capone (1894–November 22, 1974). Called Ralph upon entering the United States. Later joined his younger brother in Chicago. Salvatore Capone (1895–April 1, 1924). Better known as Frank Capone, he was a representative of his brother in Cicero, Illinois. Killed by members of the local police reportedly for attempting to draw a gun while they approached him. Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899–January 25, 1947). Erminio Capone (1901–?). Called John or affectionately "Mimi." Served prison terms for minor offenses such as vagrancy. Changed his last name to "Martin." Reportedly still alive in 1994. Umberto Capone (1906–June, 1980). Called Albert. Employee of the newspaper Cicero Tribune under the ownership of his brother Al. Changed his last name to Raiola in 1942. Amedeo Capone (1908–January 31, 1967). Called Matthew. Tavern owner. Rose Capone. Mafalda Capone. Alphonse's life of crime started early: as a teenager he joined two gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors, and engaged in petty crime. Capone quit high school at the age of 14 when he fought with a teacher and worked odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. After his initial stint with small-time gangs, Capone joined the notorious Five Points Gang headed by Frankie Yale. It was at this time he began working as a bartender and bouncer at Yale's establishment, the seedy Harvard Inn. It was here, at the Harvard Inn, that Capone would engage in a knife fight with a thug named Frank Gallucio after Capone had made a bold move on Gallucio's sister. Gallucio had deeply slashed Capone's right cheek with a switchblade, earning him the nickname that he would bear for the rest of his life: "Scarface," a moniker he in fact detested. Capone had instead preferred the nickname "Snorky" which meant "well-dressed" in the slang of the 1920s. In 1918 Capone married Mae Coughlin, an Irish girl, who gave him a son that year, Albert "Sonny" Francis Capone. The couple lived in Brooklyn for a year. In 1919 he lived in Amityville, Long Island, to be close to "Rum Row." Capone was still working for Frankie Yale and is thought to have committed at least two homicides before he was sent to Chicago in 1919. Yale sent his protégé to Chicago after Capone was involved in a fight with a rival gang. Yale's intention was for Capone to "cool off" there; the move primed one of the most notorious crime careers in modern American history. The Capone family moved to a small, unassuming house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue in a Chicago suburb that would serve as Al Capone's first headquarters. Initially, Capone took up grunt work with Johnny Torrio's outfit, but the elder Torrio immediately recognized Capone's talents and by 1922 Capone was Torrio's second in command, responsible for much of the gambling, alcohol, and prostitution rackets in the city of Chicago. Severely injured in an assassination attempt in 1925, the shaken Torrio returned to Italy and gave the reins of the business to Capone. Capone was notorious during Prohibition for his control of the Chicago underworld and his bitter rivalries with gangsters such as Bugs Moran and Hymie Weiss. Raking in vast amounts of money from illegal gambling, prostitution, and alcohol (some estimates were that between 1925 and 1930 Capone was making $100 million a year), the Chicago kingpin was largely immune to prosecution due to witness intimidation and the bribing of city officials, such as Chicago mayor William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson. Capone was reputed to have several other retreats and hideouts including French Lick, Indiana, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Johnson City, Tennessee. In 1928, Capone bought a retreat on Palm Island, Florida. It was shortly after this purchase that he orchestrated seven of the most notorious gangland killings of the century, the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Although details of the massacre are still in dispute, and no person has ever been charged or prosecuted for the crime, the killings are generally linked to Capone and his henchmen, especially Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, who is thought to have led the operation. By staging the massacre, Capone was trying to dispose of his arch-rival Bugs Moran, who controlled gang operations on the North Side of Chicago. Moran himself was late for the meeting and escaped otherwise certain death. Throughout the 1920s, Capone himself was often the target of attempted murders.