Antonio Macrì

Antonio Macrì (ca. 1902 – January 20, 1975) was a historical and charismatic 'Ndrangheta boss from Siderno on the Ionic coast of Calabria. He was the capobastone (head of command) of the 'ndrine in his hometown.

Biography

Criminal career

Antonio Macrì was one of the most powerful bosses belonging to the ‘old guard’. In Siderno he was well known as the true authority in his town. In 1929 he was charged with illegal firearms, in 1932 for grievous bodily harm, in 1945 for robbery with violence, in 1947 for attempted murder and in 1958 for murder with aggravating circumstances.Arlacchi, "Mafia Business", p. 20]

Macrì held the position of capo crimine from the beginning of the 1960s until the outbreak of the first 'Ndrangheta war in 1975. Together with Domenico "Mico" Tripodo, the boss of the city of Reggio Calabria and the surrounding areas and Girolamo "Mommo" Piromalli, head of the most powerful "'ndrina" on the Tyrrhenian coast, he formed a sort of triumvirate, whose senior position was recognized by all other family chiefs and whose advice was in most cases followed without protest.Paoli, "Mafia Brotherhoods", p. 60] He also had close relations with the Sicilian Mafia, in particular with Michele Navarra, at the time the capomafia of Corleone, when Navarra was banished by the Italian authorities to Gioiosa Marina in Calabria in the 1950s.it icon [http://www.poliziaedemocrazia.it/live/index.php?domain=rubriche&action=articolo&idArticolo=1589 E ora la ’ndrangheta supera cosa nostra: Intervista a Enzo Ciconte] , Polizia e democrazia, November-December 2007]

Tradition and modernization

Macrì opposed new criminal activities such as kidnappings and drug trafficking. However, several cosche of Platì, San Luca, and the Gioia Tauro plain did engage in these activities and Macrì had no means by which to prevent or punish these violations of the traditional mafia code. (Both the crimine and its charismatic leaders depended on the consensus and cooperation of the individual 'Ndrangheta families and relied on the good will of single family bosses to have the codes obeyed.)

Nevertheless, Macrì also was an exponent of modernization, representing a qualitative step in expanding traditional parasitic criminal activities of extortion to a more entrepreneurial phase. When in 1974 businesses involved in the expansion of the port and steelworks in Gioia Tauro offered a three per cent kickback to be left in peace the three leading 'Ndrangheta families at the time, Macrì, the Piromalli brothers and the De Stefano brothers rejected the offer and wanted to be sub-contracted on work carried in order to control the projects.Arlacchi, "Mafia Business", p. 106]

Death

Macrì was a traditional 'Ndrangheta capobastone who, together with Tripodo, opposed to new developments in the organisation such as the formation of the Santa, a secret society within the 'Ndrangheta established in the early 1970s to maximize the power and invisibility of the most important bosses.it icon [http://www.csm.it/quaderni/quad_99a/quad_99_2.pdf L’atteggiarsi delle associazioni mafiose sulla base delle esperienze processuali acquisite: la ’ndrangheta] , by Salvatore Boemi, in "I delitti di criminalità organizzata", Quaderni del Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura N. 99]

The disagreement led to bloodshed in the so-called first 'Ndrangheta war. On January 20, 1975, Macrì was killed. His death triggered the 'Ndrangheta war that cost some 300 lives. According to a state witness, a young Pasquale Condello was one of his 'executioners'. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/24/internationalcrime.italy Godfather's arrest fuels fear of bloody conflict] , The Observer, February 24, 2008] Macrì may have paid for his opposition to kidnappings and drug trafficking with his life, as his murder was presumably organized by the supporters of a change of modus operandi of the 'Ndrangheta.

References

*Arlacchi, Pino (1988). "Mafia Business. The Mafia Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism", Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-285197-7
*Paoli, Letizia (2003). " [http://books.google.nl/books?id=qX5NfHTWzS0C&dq Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style] ", New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-515724-9 ( [http://www.organized-crime.de/revpao01mafiandrangheta.htm Review] by Klaus Von Lampe) ( [http://www.ccja-acjp.ca/en/cjcr/cjcr68.html Review] by Alexandra V. Orlova)