Vito Genovese

Vito Don Vitone Genovese (November 27, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-American mobster who rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long time associate of Charles Luciano, Genovese took part in the Castellammarese War and helped shape the rise of the Mafia and organized crime in the United States. He would later lead Lucianos crime family for 12 years, which was renamed the Genovese crime family.He was known as Boss of all Bosses from 1957 to 1959 when he ruled the most powerful criminal organization in the country and maintained influence over others. Along with longtime associate Charles Luciano, he is deemed responsible for expanding the heroin trade to an international level. For a brief period during World War II, he supported Benito Mussolinis regime in Italy for fear of being deported back to the United States to face murder charges. Genovese served as mentor to the future boss of the Genovese crime family Vincent Chin Gigante.While he helped usher in a new era in organized crime in his earlier years, his tenure as boss led to several incidents that were detrimental to the American Mafias power. He ordered several highly publicized murders and when he called a meeting with all the Mafia bosses in the country to consolidate his power, the meeting was raided by the police. He also scared underling Joe Valachi into becoming the first member of the American Mafia to publicly acknowledge its existence and testify as a government witness.

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