Colosimi (
Calabrian: ) is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
province of Cosenza
The province of Cosenza ( it, provincia di Cosenza) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 ''comuni'', listed at list of communes of the Province of Cosenza ...
in the
Calabria
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region of southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Gangster
James Colosimo
Vincenzo Colosimo (; February 16, 1878 – May 11, 1920), known as James "Big Jim" Colosimo or as "Diamond Jim", was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who emigrated from Calabria, Italy, in 1895 and built a criminal empire in Chicago based on ...
was born here in 1878.
History
The region is presented as a set of eleven small villages, including the capital, established in the 17th century. The etymology is related to the
Colosimo Colosimo is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Big Jim Colosimo (1878–1920), Italian organized crime figure
* Gaspare Colosimo (1859–1940), Italian jurist and politician
* Simon Colosimo (born 1979), Australian socce ...
surname, which is widespread in the area. Colosimi is potentially Greek in origin, being formed from the words 'colosi' (more correctly spelt as 'colossi' and being the plural of "colossus") and 'mi' (meaning 'me'). It is believed that until the early decades of the 7th century Colosimi was inhabited only in summer and that the first permanent inhabitants suffered disasters in the 17th century, such as famines and earthquakes, especially the
large earthquake on 27 March 1638.
The first Colosimi administrative autonomy (1811) was related to the political strength of the city-owned University of Scigliano. Until 1820, the municipality of Colosimi belonged as a territory of the town of
Bianchi, Calabria
Bianchi ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is loc ...
. It became autonomous in that year.
In 1813, Colosimi became home to the oldest Masonic Workshop, namely the ''Mamertini'' lodge, which, together with the ''Ginnosofisti silani di Carlopoli'' and the ''La Sila di Decollatura'', can be called the cultural forges of these upland moors in the nineteenth century.
References
Cities and towns in Calabria
{{Calabria-geo-stub