Salvatore "Samoots" Ammatuna (August 3, 1898 – November 13, 1925) was an Italian-born American mobster and member of the

Genna Brothers The Genna crime family (), was a crime family that operated in Prohibition-era Chicago. From 1921 to 1925, the family was headed by the six Genna brothers, known as the ''Terrible Gennas''.Capeci, Jerry. ''The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia' ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

who served as president of the Unione Siciliane.

Early life

Ammatuna was born in

Pozzallo Pozzallo ( scn, Puzzaddu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. Pozzallo is now a major summer tourist destination: as of March 2020, two beaches in Pozzallo hold a Blue Flag award, presented by the FEE ...

, Sicily in 1898 and emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, eventually arriving in Chicago's

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

. As a teenager, he worked as a messenger for the

, a group of ruthless Sicilian gangsters. He earned a full membership in the Genna gang on February 21, 1916 at age 17 by murdering Frank Lombardi outside a saloon. Lombardi was a supporter of incumbent Chicago alderman John Powers, a bitter enemy of the Genna brothers. The brutal warfare between the Gennas and Powers became known in Chicago as the

Aldermen's Wars The Alderman's wars was a series of murders and violent rioting between warring Alderman Johnny "de Pow" Powers and Anthony D'Andrea from 1916 until 1921. Over a period of five years, over 30 deaths were reported during the struggle for control ov ...

Prohibition and the Bloody Nineteenth Ward

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

began in 1920, and Ammatuna had already become one of the Gennas' leading members. The brothers continued to battle the Powers faction for political control of the Nineteenth Ward. The Gennas began bootlegging operations and became one of the main suppliers of homemade alcohol to the Torrio- Capone gang. Ammatuna was the enforcer who oversaw production of the gang's numerous "alky cookers", and he became the personal bodyguard for "Bloody" Angelo Genna by the end of 1920. On September 28, a bomb exploded on the front porch of Powers' home. In spite of great damage, no one inside was hurt. Powers suspected that Ammatuna was the bomber on orders from the Gennas. For the rest of 1920 and into 1921, Powers stationed armed guards and private detectives around his house as he campaigned against

Anthony D'Andrea Anthony D'Andrea (born Antonio D'Andrea; ; June 7, 1872 – May 12, 1921) was an Italian-born Italian-American Mafia, Mafia boss of Chicago in the late 1910s to early 1920s. He was also a Democrat and a political leader who was a president of the ...

. Despite frequent bombings, Powers narrowly won the election. Enraged by his defeat, Angelo Genna blamed Paul Labriola, a municipal court bailiff and a Powers supporter, for convincing Sicilian and other Italian immigrants to support Powers. On March 9, 1921, Angelo, Ammatuna, and Genna lieutenant Frank "Don Chick" Gambino shot and killed Labriola. Witnesses identified Genna and Gambino, and the two men were charged with murder; however, the case was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence. Ammatuna was later a suspect in the murders of Powers' supporters Harry Raimondi and Gaetano Esposito. By age 25, Ammatuna had several bank accounts and held interests in various legitimate businesses. He earned the reputation of a "dandy" and would be seen attending operas with Angelo and other gunmen, often wearing expensive diamond studs and cufflinks, and he bought the Bluebird Cafe, a restaurant in Halsted Street in Chicago. He was confident that he was safe in the Bluebird and never wore his two guns there. He once boasted to reporters that "no one can shoot me in here. This place is full of my friends. Any guy who would hurt me here would be torn apart by my patrons".

Later years

By the mid-1920s, the Genna brothers were enmeshed in a vicious gang war with the North Side Gang, a primarily Irish gang run by

Hymie Weiss Earl J. "Hymie" Weiss (born Henryk Wojciechowski; January 25, 1898 – October 11, 1926), was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone. He was known as "the only man ...

. In May 1925, Angelo Genna was murdered by the North Siders. Ammatuna was in charge of the Genna gang, and he struggled to keep the organization from disintegrating. He walked into the headquarters of the Unione Sicilane, a powerful fraternal group under mob control, and declared himself president, which upset Al Capone. Capone was a Genna ally, but he wanted to control the Unione Siciliane himself.

Death

On the evening of November 13, 1925, Ammatuna was preparing to attend the opera ''

Aïda ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decembe ...

'' at the

Auditorium Theatre The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located inside the Auditorium Building at 50 Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was d ...

with his girlfriend Rose Picorara. He visited a barbershop on Roosevelt Road for a shave and manicure, his usual habit before going out for the evening. Owner Isadore Paul commented on the fact that he was without his bodyguards, and Ammatuna replied that he had not been able to reach them that day. Paul applied a hot towel on Ammatuna's face, when two unidentified men rushed into the barbershop and drew their guns. The barber's screams alerted Ammatuna, who quickly ducked behind the barber chair; however, he was shot in the chest twice during the gunfight as the gunmen escaped. Ammatuna requested at the hospital that a priest marry him and Rosa, but he died before the ceremony was completed. The identities of the men who killed Ammatuna were eventually revealed as North Side Gang members Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci and Jim Doherty, with

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 ...

as the driver; however, no charges were ever brought against them. The noted absence of Ammatuna bodyguards Goldstein and Zion has also been questioned, but it is not known whether they were paid off to stay away that night or if they had defected to the Northsiders, as they were both killed shortly after his death. Zion was killed when returning from Ammatuna's funeral on November 17, and Goldstein was killed with a shotgun in a drugstore by two unidentified gunmen on November 25. The remaining Genna Brothers later commented that Ammatuna's death was inevitable after he began hiring non-Sicilian bodyguards, disregarding tradition.

References

*Devito, Carlo. ''Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime''. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. *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.

External links