Cosimo Cordì (;

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ion ...

, 1951 – Locri, October 13, 1997) was a member of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria,

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 ...

. He was the head of the

Cordì 'ndrina The Cordì 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity. Feud with Cataldo clan The historical boss of the clan, Domenico Cordì, ...

based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity. The Cordì 'ndrina is involved in a long blood feud with the

Cataldo 'ndrina The Cataldo 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. This particular 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity. The clan allied, with the Marafioti family, is involved in a ...

, from the same town, since the end of the 1960s. His brother

Domenico Cordì Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...

, was killed in Locri on June 23, 1967, in the so-called Piazza Mercato massacre, which signed the beginning of a long blood feud with the

. The motive for the elimination of Domenico Cordì was the alleged fleecing of some 1,700 cases of cigarettes that were smuggled into Catanzaro by Sicilian mafiosi of the Tagliavia and Spadaro families in Palermo to

Antonio Macrì Antonio Macrì (; – January 20, 1975), popularly known as ("Unca Tony"), was a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. He was born in Siderno on the Ionian coast of Cala ...

, the undisputed head of the 'Ndrangheta in

Siderno Siderno ( scn, label=Central-Southern Calabrian, Calabrian, Sidernu or ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy, about 3 kilometres from Locri. Some notable people from Siderno are Marco ...

allied with the Cataldos. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 130-31 Cosimo Cordì took over as the head (capobastone) of the clan with his other brother,

Antonio Cordì Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...

– known as ‘U Ragiuneri. Antonio Cordí was also a municipal councilor for the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892 ...

(''Partito Socialista Italiano'' – PSI) and a powerful vote broker in national elections.Forse è l'inizio di una nuova guerra
, Gazzetta del Sud, June 2, 2005 Cordì was arrested in March 1991, suspected of killing the brain surgeon Domenico Pandolfo who unsuccessfully operated Cordìs’s nine-year-old daughter Paola suffering from a complicated brain tumor. The girl died after three days and Pandolfo was killed in retaliation.
La Repubblica, March 21, 1993 In the ongoing feud with the Cataldo 'ndrina, Cordì was killed on October 13, 1997, in Locri, while on a bicycle in the company of his nephew Salvatore Cordì. His pupil,

Pietro Criaco Pietro Criaco (; born December 9, 1972, in Africo Nuovo) is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. He was a fugitive since 1997 and included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture on Dec ...

is said to have moved through the spectating crowd to kiss his boss goodbye, whose head had been nearly blown away in the attack.Arrestato Criaco, il boss che baciava i cadaveri
Corriere della Sera, December 29, 2008 The Locri football club mourned the death of the boss with one minute of silence at the start of a game.Minuto di silenzio allo stadio per il boss ucciso
Corriere della Sera, October 24, 1997 His brother Antonio Cordì, ‘U Ragiuneri, took over the leadership of the clan.

References

* Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006).
Fratelli di Sangue
', Cosenza: Luigi Pellegrini Editore {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordi, Cosimo 1951 births 1997 deaths People from Locri 'Ndranghetisti Murdered 'Ndranghetisti People murdered in Calabria