Infamous Mafia Head Al Capone Born

Big Al, as he was called, started and finished his career as a 12 year old. Syphilis pulled his mind down to that level before death.

In New York’s Brooklyn, on January 17, 1899, Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born. More popularly known as Al Capone, and sometimes nicknamed Scarface, he was a lover, fighter, rebel, historical figure and above all, a quite all round criminal and mafia head, an icon that marked a period in America’s history, and an inspiration to many directors, actors, scriptwriters and criminals.

Scarface gained the nickname as a present for entering adulthood, when in the summer of 1917, as a worker in the restaurant on the bank of Coney Island, he gave a complaint about the alleged good butt of Frank Gallucio’s sister, for which Gallucio demanded an apology. He did not get one, and in return he permanently marked Capone’s left cheek.

The whole incident ended with Al, ordered by higher ranking mafia members, had to aplogise to Gallucio, and Gallucio had to give Al 1,000 dollars.

Big happy family

At the age of 12 he joined his first gang, and only 14 years later he became the head of one of the largest mafia families in Chicago, where he was by chance in 1918.

The family had over 1,000 members, and Al became known in the media, and gained the attention of the public, who loved him. The fact that Al was a killer, pimp, loan shark and alcohol trader (during the prohibition) did not bother people too much.

He surrounded himself with people he could trust, led by one is his slogans, that if you cannot trust your bodyguards, you are a dead man.

His bodyguards were really needed, because there were a number of unsuccessful assassination attempts on him, mostly by his fiercest opponent, the O'Banion brothers gang.

…without a doctor it seems

After some time, as often occurs with criminals, his business turned downhill. The police and the FBI got bored with Al’s behaviour, and started to pursue him intensively.

A few suits, bails, years in prison and hundred of thousands of dollars later, Al ended up in his apartment in Miami, in a phase of syphilis, which he did not treat, even though he knew about the disease that he gained from one or more prostitutes that he made love to.

The disease, because of which he vegetated for the final days of his life, cost him his head in 1947. With the brain capacity of a 12 year old, Al died in his bed, with his wife and family beside him.