Antonio "Tony the Scourge" Lombardo (; November 23, 1891 – September 7, 1928) was an Italian-born American
mobster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
. He was ''
consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
'' to
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
, and later the President of the
Unione Siciliana
The Italian-American National Union (formerly known as Unione Siciliana) was a Sicilian-American organization, which controlled much of the Italian vote within the United States during the early twentieth century. It was based in Chicago, Illinois ...
.
Biography
Born in the town of
Galati Mamertino
Galati Mamertino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Galati Mamertino borders the following municipalities: Frazzanò, Lon ...
in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
on November 23, 1891, Antonio Lombardo immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the early 20th century where he became a successful wholesale grocery business owner in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. In September 1917 he was involved in the killing of Cleveland Police Officer Elmer Glaefke A long time Mafia associate, Lombardo became Al Capone's advisor after
John Torrio
John Donato Torrio (born Donato Torrio, ; January 20, 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian born-American mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Syn ...
retired in 1925.
Lombardo tried unsuccessfully to negotiate peace between the
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...
and the
North Side Gang
The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was an Irish-Polish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. It was the principal rival of the South Side Gang, also ...
during the four-year gang war, suggesting that Capone surrender supposed
Dean O'Banion
Charles Dean O'Banion (July 8, 1892 – November 10, 1924) was an American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known ...
assassins
Albert Anselmi and
John Scalise
John Scalise (born Giovanni Scalise, 1900, Castelvetrano, Sicily – May 7, 1929, Chicago) was an American organized crime figure of the early 20th century and, with partner Albert Anselmi, was one of the Chicago Outfit's most successful hitmen ...
, which Capone refused. Lombardo, with the help of Capone, later became President of the
Unione Siciliana
The Italian-American National Union (formerly known as Unione Siciliana) was a Sicilian-American organization, which controlled much of the Italian vote within the United States during the early twentieth century. It was based in Chicago, Illinois ...
in November 1925, attempting to regain control of the unstable organization as well as instituting reforms, including opening membership to non-Sicilian Italian immigrants (such as the
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
Capone) and changing the organization's name to the
Italo-American National Union.
Lombardo's reforms, however, caused some resentment within Unione Siciliana members. With the partnership of Al Capone and New York gangster
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele (; January 22, 1893 – July 1, 1928), known as Frankie Yale or Frankie Uale, was an Italian-American gangster based in Brooklyn and second employer of Al Capone.
Early life
Yale was born in Longobucco, Italy, on January 22, ...
worsening, possibly due to the end of payoffs from the
Unione Siciliana
The Italian-American National Union (formerly known as Unione Siciliana) was a Sicilian-American organization, which controlled much of the Italian vote within the United States during the early twentieth century. It was based in Chicago, Illinois ...
to Yale, Lombardo was challenged for the Presidency by
Joe Aiello, supported by Yale, in January 1928.
Lombardo, however, refused to resign and continued to organize civic projects under the Unione Siciliana until shortly before his death on September 7, 1928. Lombardo was gunned down, along with his bodyguard Joseph Ferrara (although bodyguard
Joe Lolordo survived), allegedly by an alliance of the
Joe Aiello Gang and the North Side Gang, at the intersections of
Madison Street and
Dearborn Street. It was said that Moran ordered this death and had his two experienced gunman do the job with the help of Aiello. Thought to be retaliation for the murder of
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele (; January 22, 1893 – July 1, 1928), known as Frankie Yale or Frankie Uale, was an Italian-American gangster based in Brooklyn and second employer of Al Capone.
Early life
Yale was born in Longobucco, Italy, on January 22, ...
the previous July, Lombardo's death was in turn soon avenged with the murder of members of the Joe Aiello Gang and the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 1 ...
, in 1929. He is buried in
Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
Only one gunman was identified in Lombardo's death: a Frank Marco aka Marlo who was killed in New York City February 17, 1931 ; a possible unknown accomplice to Marco was killed September 9, 1928, in Michigan. Another suspect was Pietro La Mantia
Al Capone Museum
/ref> It is also alleged Peter Gusenberg
Peter Gusenberg a.k.a. "''Goosey''" (September 22, 1888 – February 14, 1929) and his brother Frank were German-American contract killers and members of Chicago's North Side Gang, the main rival to the Chicago Outfit. Peter Gusenberg parti ...
also helped carry out the murders on Antonio Lombardo and Pasquale Lolorado with his younger brother Frank Gusenberg
Frank Gusenberg (October 11, 1893 – February 14, 1929) was an American contract killer and a victim of the Saint Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago, Illinois.
Early life
Born in Lakeview, Chicago, Gusenberg was the second oldest of thr ...
and Albert Kachellek, a fellow cellmate at Joliet.
Further reading
*Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 1940.
*Lashly, Arthur V. ''Illinois Crime Survey''. Chicago: Illinois Association for Criminal Justice and the Chicago Crime Commission The Chicago Crime Commission is an independent, non-partisan civic watchdog organization of business leaders dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of organized criminal activity, especially organized crime, street gangs and the tools o ...
, 1929.
*Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. ''The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone''. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998.
*Parr, Amanda Jayne. ''The True and Complete Story of Machine Gun Jack McGurn
Jack "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn (born Vincenzo Antonio Gibaldi; ; July 2, 1902 – February 15, 1936) was a Sicilian-American boxer, mobster, and eventually a made man and caporegime in Al Capone's Chicago Outfit.
Early life
McGurn was born ...
: Chief Bodyguard and Hit Man to Chicago's Most Infamous Crime Czar Al Capone and Mastermind of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre''. Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd., 2005.
*United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), stood up in March 1941 as the "Truman Committee," is the oldest subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (formerly the Committee on Governme ...
. ''Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi : Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation''. 1988
References
*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001.
External links
The American "Mafia": Who was who ? - L
*
by Allan May
by Allen May
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Antonio
1891 births
1928 deaths
1928 murders in the United States
Gangsters from the Province of Messina
Al Capone associates
Consiglieri
Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian descent
Chicago Outfit mobsters
Prohibition-era gangsters
American Roman Catholics
People murdered in Illinois
Male murder victims
Burials at the Bishop's Mausoleum, Mount Carmel Cemetery (Hillside)
Italian emigrants to the United States