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The Bonanno crime family (pronounced [boˈnanno]) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Salvatore Maranzano was murdered in 1931. Joseph Bonanno was awarded most of Maranzano's operations when Charles "Lucky" Luciano oversaw the creation of the Commission to divide up criminal enterprises in New York City among the Five Families. Under the leadership of Bonanno between the 1930s and 1960s, the family was one of the most powerful in the country. However, in the early 1960s, Bonanno attempted to overthrow several leaders of the Commission, but failed. Bonanno disappeared from 1964 to 1966, triggering an intra-family war colloquially referred to as the "Banana War" that lasted until 1968, when Bonanno retired to Arizona. Between 1976 and 1981, the family was infiltrated by FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who went undercover using the alias, Donnie Brasco. This resulted in the Bonannos becoming the first of the New York families to be expelled from the Commission. It took until the 1990s for them to recover, a process overseen by new boss Joseph Massino. Despite these issues, by the dawn of the new millennium, the Bonanno family had not only regained their seat on the Commission but had also become the most powerful family in New York. However, in the early 2000s, a rash of convictions culminated in Massino himself becoming a government informant, the first boss of one of the Five Families in New York City to do so. The Bonanno family was seen as the most brutal of the Five Families during the 20th century. History Sicilian origins The origins of the Bonanno crime family can be traced back to the town of Castellammare del Golfo located in the Province of Trapani, Sicily, their boss Giuseppe "Peppe" Bonanno, and his older brother and advisor, Stefano. The clan's strongest ally was the leader of the Magaddino clan Stefano Magaddino, the brother of Joseph Bonanno's maternal grandmother. During the 1900s, the two clans feuded with Felice Buccellato, the boss of the Buccellato clan. In 1902, Magaddino arrived in New York and became a powerful member of the Castellammarese clan. After the murders of Stefano and Giuseppe Bonanno, their younger brother, Salvatore, took revenge by killing members of the Buccellatos. In 1903, Salvatore Bonanno married Catherine Bonventre and on January 18, 1905, she gave birth to Joseph Bonanno. Three years later Salvatore moved his family to New York City, and began establishing dominance and control in the Castellammarese community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While operating in Brooklyn, the Castellammarese leaders were able to secure the criminal organization's future. In 1911, Salvatore returned to Sicily, where he died of a heart attack in 1915. In 1921, Magaddino fled to Buffalo, New York to avoid murder charges and the Castellammarese clan was taken over by Nicolo "Cola" Schirò. Castellammarese War In 1930, violence broke out between a faction led by Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and members of the Castellammareses over the theft of Masseria's bootleg liquor. This soon developed into a full out war known as the Castellammarese War. At the time, the Castellammareses were led by Nicolo "Cola" Schirò, who tried to work with Masseria. Schirò was replaced by Salvatore Maranzano, who wanted to take control over New York's underworld. Under Maranzano's leadership, the bloodshed continued. The Castellammarese faction was more organized and unified than the Masseria clan. Maranzano's allies were Buffalo family boss Stefano Magaddino, Detroit family boss Gaspar Milazzo and Philadelphia family boss Salvatore Sabella, all Castellammarese. The family included mobsters Joseph Bonanno, Carmine Galante, and Gaspar DiGregorio. Maranzano was also close to Joseph Profaci, future boss of the New York Profaci family. Finally, they established a secret alliance with the Bronx Reina family boss Gaetano Reina, a nominal Masseria ally. After Reina's murder on February 26, 1930, members of the Masseria faction began to defect to Maranzano. By 1931, momentum had shifted to the Castellammarese faction. That spring, a group of younger Mafiosi from both camps, known as the "Young Turks", decided to switch to Maranzano and end the war. This group included future mob bosses Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, Tommy Lucchese, Albert Anastasia and Joe Adonis. As leader of the Young Turks, Luciano concluded a secret deal with Maranzano and promised to kill Masseria. The war finally came to end when Masseria was killed on April 15, 1931. Maranzano's murder and the Commission After Masseria's death, Maranzano outlined a peace plan to all the Sicilian and Italian Mafia leaders in the United States. There would be 24 organizations (to be known as "families") throughout the United States, each of which would choose its own boss. In New York City, Maranzano established five Cosa Nostra families: the Luciano family under Lucky Luciano, the Mangano family under Vincent Mangano, the Gagliano family under Tommy Gagliano, the Profaci family under Joseph Profaci, and the Maranzano crime family under himself. Maranzano created an additional post for himself, that of capo di tutti capi, or boss of bosses. Although Maranzano was more forward-looking than Masseria, at core he was still a "Mustache Pete". It did not take long for Maranzano and Luciano to come into conflict: Luciano was not pleased that Maranzano had reneged on his promise of equality, and soon came to believe he was even more hidebound and greedy than Masseria had been. At the same time, Maranzano had grown uncomfortable with Luciano's ambitions and growing power and secretly plotted to have him killed. When Tommy Lucchese alerted Luciano that he and Vito Genovese had been marked for death, Luciano felt he had to strike first. On September 10, 1931, gangsters hired by Luciano, who were not known to Maranzano or his men, murdered Maranzano in his office. Luciano had become the dominant crime boss in America and replaced the "boss of bosses" title with The Commission to regulate the Mafia's national affairs and mediate disputes between families. He also awarded Joseph Bonanno leadership of the Maranzano family. The Bonanno era After Maranzano's death, Joseph Bonanno was awarded most of Maranzano's operations. At 26 years old, Bonanno was the youngest Mafia leader in the nation. Years later, Bonanno claimed not to have known about the plot to eliminate Maranzano, and only learned later that Maranzano had planned to kill Luciano due to a falling-out over influence in the Garment District. By Bonanno's account, he believed a renewed war with Luciano would serve no purpose, since Luciano only wanted to run his own rackets. However, mob expert Anthony Brun.... Discover the Paul Henderson Salvatore Calabrese popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Paul Henderson Salvatore Calabrese books.