![Guappo camorrista in Naples, Italy 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Guappo_camorrista_in_Naples%2C_Italy_2.jpg)
Guappo (plural: ''guappi'') is a historical
Southern Italian criminal subculture and informal
term of address in the
Neapolitan language, roughly analogous to or meaning thug,
swaggerer,
pimp, braggart, or ruffian. While today the word is often used to indicate a member of the
Camorra, a
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
-type organisation in the region of
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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and its capital
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
in
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 ...
, the ''guapperia'' (or ''guapparia''; i.e., the guappo subculture) predates the modern Camorra and was originally a different and separate criminal subculture that considered itself very much independent of the Camorra.
[ Monica Florio]
''Il guappo''
/ref>
Historically, "guappo" referred to a loosely cohesive 19th and early 20th century subculture that thrived in the Naples area and, to a lesser extent, nearby regions of Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
. The subculture stereotypically consisted of a type of boisterous, flashy, swaggering, free-spirited, and violent yet dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...
-like criminal, pimp, outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
, and ruffian that nonetheless followed a somewhat chivalrous
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours were governed by ...
code of honor.
Etymology
The word most likely derives from the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
''guapo'' (Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
had been under Spanish rule for centuries), meaning bold, elegant, or an ostentatious person, and which eventually derives from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''vappa'', meaning flat wine or scoundrel. The noun ''guapparia'', which is sometimes also used to indicate the Camorra, means arrogance, domineering, or braggart. The verb ''guappia'' means to behave like a ''guappo'' (Camorrista), to be domineering and derives from the Spanish ''guapear'' (to feign courage, to flaunt elegance).[Erwin & Bello, ]
Modern Etymological Neapolitan-English Vocabulary
'
The word also might be derived from the Garduña
The GarduñaIn standard Spanish, garduña' is the name of the beech marten is a mythical organized, secret criminal society said to have been founded in Spain in the late Middle Ages. It was said to have been a prison gang that grew into a more ...
, a fictitious criminal organisation in Spain said to be the precursor of the Camorra. The Garduña was composed of ''guapos'', generally good swordsmen, daring assassins, and committed bandits.[ Consiglio, ]
La camorra a Napoli
', p. 40
The word wop
''Wop'' is a pejorative slur for Italians or people of Italian descent.
Etymology
The Merriam-Webster dictionary states wop's first known use was in the United States in 1908, and that it originates from the Southern Italian dialectal term ''gu ...
, a pejorative American ethnic slur
The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...
for an Italian, probably derives from guappo.[wop]
in wordorigins.org
Characteristics
Though the term today often refers to a member of the Camorra (i.e. a Camorrista), the historical figure of the "guappo" is not necessarily synonymous with the Camorrista. It is a historical figure in 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 ...
area, distinguishable by his smart or overdressed dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...
-like appearance, his unusual pose that serves to draw attention to him, and the particular care he lavishes on his body and face. The guappo could be characterized as "simple" or "posh" according to the clothes he wore: the former preferred extravagant and flashy clothes while the latter loved to dress in clothes from the best tailors in Naples.[Quando il guappo non era camorrista]
, Il Denaro Nr. 159, August 26, 2006
Originally, the guappo was rather a violent free spirit; free from the law as well as the "official" Camorra, with his proper code of honour, at once an extortionist, a rectifier of wrong for the local neighbourhood and a benefactor of artists of the café chantant. He was sometimes allied with, and sometimes a rival of the Camorra. Around 1860, a guappo was described as an independent and individualist camorrista.[ Florio, ]
Il guappo
''.[ Consiglio, ]
La camorra a Napoli
', p. 111
When the Camorra as an organisation was weak, the guappo flourished. After the first mass trial against the Camorra in 1911-12, and the advent of Fascist rule the Camorra as an organisation was nearly destroyed. The local guappo returned and the interwar period (1918–1939) was the heyday of the individualist guappo power. After World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, with the return of the Camorra, the figure of the guappo eventually merged into the organisation.[ Di Fiore, ]
Potere camorrista: quattro secoli di malanapoli
', p. 10 and p. 128 A typical guappo of that era was Pasquale Simonetti, also known as "Pascalone ‘e Nola", who controlled the Naples fruit market. He was married to Pupetta Maresca and famous for publicly slapping American Mafia boss, Lucky Luciano, at the Agnano
Agnano is a suburb of Napoli, Italy, situated southwest of the city in the Campi Flegrei region. It was popular among both ancient Greeks and Romans and was famed for its hot sulphurous springs.
History
Lake Agnano formed in the Middle Ag ...
racetrack.[Pascalone e' Nola]
/ref> (In fact, the perpetrator was Francesco Pirozzi, known as ''Ciccillo 'o francese'', one of the men of Camorra boss Alfredo Maisto.[Allum, ''The Neapolitan Camorra'', p. 146])
In art and popular culture
The Guappo is present in Neapolitan drama, music and literature, such as the Neapolitan song "Guapparia" by of the poet Libero Bovio
Libero Bovio (9 June 1883 – 26 May 1942) was a Neapolitan lyricist and dialect poet.
Bovio was one of those responsible for the rejuvenation of Neapolitan
dialect in plays, poetry and song at the beginning of the twentieth
century. He took ...
, in works of the author Raffaele Viviani
Raffaele Viviani (10 January 1888 in Castellammare di Stabia, Province of Naples – 22 March 1950) was an Italian author, playwright, actor and musician. Viviani belongs to the turn-of-the-century school of realism in Italian literature, a ...
, and the journalists Ferdinando Russo and Matilde Serao
200px, Matilde Serao, by "Rossi"
Matilde Serao (; gr, Ματθίλδη Σεράο; 7 March 1856 – 25 July 1927) was an Italian journalist and novelist. She was the first woman called to edit an Italian newspaper, Il ''Corriere di Roma'' an ...
.
The famous comedian Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
played a role of an ordinary person bullied by a ''guappo'' in ''The Gold of Naples
''The Gold of Naples'' ( it, L'oro di Napoli ) is a 1954 Italian anthology film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
The film is a tribute to Naples, where director De Sica spent his first years, ...
'' ( it, L'oro di Napoli) a 1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...
.
The Neapolitan composer of operas Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of his ...
features a Guappo in his 1786 opera '' Il credulo''. The transition from ''guapparia'' to Camorra in the mid-20th Century is portrayed in several filmic sceneggiate starring Italian actor and singer Mario Merola, who often played the role of an old-style "guappo" standing up against the injustices brought about by the Camorra; examples include ''Sgarro alla camorra'' ("Affront to the Camorra", 1973) and ''L'ultimo guappo'' ("The last guappo", 1978).
In the 1974 American film ''The Godfather Part II
''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...
'', the character of Don Fanucci
Don Fanucci is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and the 1974 film ''The Godfather Part II'', a sequel to the 1972 film version of Puzo's novel. Fanucci is portrayed by Gastone Moschin and is based on t ...
is depicted as carrying himself and dressing like a stereotypical ''guappo''.
References
*Allum, Felia Skyle (2000),
The Neapolitan Camorra: Crime and politics in post-war Naples (1950-92)
', Brunel University
* Consiglio, Alberto (2005).
La camorra a Napoli
', Naples: Guida Editori,
* Di Fiore, Gigi (1993).
Potere camorrista: quattro secoli di malanapoli
', Naples: Guida Editori,
*Erwin, Dale & Piero Bello (2009).
Modern Etymological Neapolitan-English Vocabulary
'
* Florio, Monica (2004).
Il guappo. Nella storia, nell'arte, nel costume
', Naples: Kairòs,
{{Camorra
Culture in Naples
History of the Camorra in Italy