Salvatore La Barbera (; April 20, 1922 – January 17, 1963) was a Sicilian mafioso. Together with his brother

Angelo La Barbera Angelo La Barbera (; July 3, 1924 – October 28, 1975) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Together with his brother Salvatore La Barbera he ruled the Mafia family of Palermo Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first Sicilian Mafia C ...

he ruled the Mafia family of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first

Sicilian Mafia Commission The Sicilian Mafia Commission (Italian: ''Commissione provinciale''), known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Sicilian Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicili ...

that was set up in 1958 as the

capo mandamento Within Cosa Nostra a mandamento is traditionally a district of three geographically contiguous Mafia cosche (families controlling a single land feud, or a city ward) in Sicily. A capomandamento represents the head of a territory, the mandamento, ...

for Mafia families of Borgo Vecchio, Porta Nuova and Palermo Centro. La Barbera disappeared during the

First Mafia War The Ciaculli massacre on 30 June 1963 was caused by a car bomb that exploded in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo, killing seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call. The bomb was intended for Salvat ...

, a victim of the ''

lupara bianca ''Lupara bianca'' (; "white ''lupara''") is a journalistic term for a Mafia murder done in such a way that the victim's body is never found. Typical ways to carry out a lupara bianca include burying a victim in the open countryside or in remote p ...

'', never to be seen again. The Palermo police suspected that

Salvatore Greco "Ciaschiteddu" Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

and his cousin

Salvatore Greco "The Engineer" Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

had arranged a deal whereby

Tommaso Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta (; 13 July 1928 – 2 April 2000) was an Italian mobster and a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He became one of the first of its members to turn informant and explain the inner workings of the organization. Buscetta participated i ...

betrayed his former friend, killed him and disposed of his body in the furnaces of his glass factory. Buscetta claims to know nothing about the disappearance.Servadio, ''Mafioso'', p. 182-84 Later on, pentito

Antonino Calderone Antonino Calderone (October 24, 1935January 10, 2013) was a Sicilian Mafioso who turned state witness (''pentito'') in 1987 after his arrest in 1986. Antonino was born in Catania, the brother of Giuseppe Calderone, the boss of the local Mafia. ...

revealed that La Barbera was killed by Cicchiteddu and the body was made to disappear with the help of Cicchiteddu's ally Gigino Pizzuto, capomandamento of

Castronovo di Sicilia Castronovo di Sicilia ( Sicilian: ''Castrunovu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city ...

References

*Servadio, Gaia (1976). ''Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day'', London: Secker & Warburg {{DEFAULTSORT:La Barbera, Salvatore Gangsters from Palermo Sicilian mafiosi Murdered Mafiosi People murdered in Italy 1963 deaths 1922 births

See also

References