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Licio Silvio Lucchesi | |
Biographical Information | |
Aliases | Don Lucchesi The Puppeteer |
Gender | Male |
Born | August 3, 1923 Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Died | April 5, 1980 Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Title(s) | Don |
Licio Silvio Lucchesi (August 3, 1923–April 5, 1980), also known as Don Lucchesi, was an Italian businessman, entrepreneur and mafioso who was the chairman and general CEO of the international real estate empire International Immobiliare. A cold and ruthless man, Lucchesi had deep-rooted connections to the Palermo Mafia clans and the Freemasonry movement, and regularly ordered hits on his rivals and enemies. He built up his company through illegal means, bribing public officials with enormous quantities of money to look the other way on his shady business dealings. Through a personal friendship with Don Emanuele Bendino, the Mayor of the city of Bagheria until the 1980s, Lucchesi practically controlled the entire town. In 1980, when New York City Mafia Don Michael Corleone tried to legitimize all his interests through a record deal with Immobiliare, Lucchesi plotted a scheme with rival Don Osvaldo Altobello, Corleone family street boss Joey Zasa, Vatican banker Frederick Keinszig and crooked archbishop Liam Gilday to swindle and kill Corleone while reaping the benefits for themselves. However, Corleone anticipated their plan, and through his successor and protégé Vincent Mancini, had all the conspirators murdered, including Lucchesi, who was stabbed in the throat with his own glasses by Corleone's assassin Calò Santista.