Calogero Vizzini - Boss of Bosses?

Boss of Bosses?

In the media Vizzini was often depicted as the "boss of bosses" – although such a position did not exist in the loose structure of Cosa Nostra, and later Mafia turncoats denied he ever was the boss of the Mafia in Sicily. According to the pentito Tommaso Buscetta the title capo dei capi or "boss of bosses" did not exist in Cosa Nostra. According to author John Dickie, "the question is if Vizzini was as dominant in the Mafia as he was famous outside it." In the matter of Mafia support for the separatist movement, other Cosa Nostra bosses sidelined Vizzini, who was considered to be tainted by his association with radical separatist leaders Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile and Lucio Tasca. These bosses wanted nothing to do with either the island’s bandits or EVIS, to which Vizzini and Lucio Tasca were suspected to be connected. According to the pentito Antonio Calderone Vizzini never had been the boss of Cosa Nostra of Sicily.

Nevertheless, Vizzini wielded considerable power. The Italian journalist Luigi Barzini, who claimed to know Vizzini well, described his stature and daily life in Villalba in his book The Italians: "From the shadows along the walls and narrow side streets emerged people who had arrived earlier, some from far away, and were waiting to talk to him. They were peasants, old women with black veils on their head, young mafiosi, middle class men. They all walked along with him in turn, explaining their problems. He listened, then called one of his henchmen, gave a few orders, and summoned the next petitioner. Many kissed his hand in gratitude as they left." Vizzini’s magnanimous and protective manner, the respectful greetings of passers-by, the humbleness of those approaching him, the smiles of gratitude when he addressed them, reminded Barzini of an ancient scene: a prince holding court in the open air.

The former mayor of Villalba and local historian, Luigi Lumia, remembers Don Calò walking the streets of Villalba: "He was squat with skinny legs and a protruding stomach. He always wore tinted spectacles, as you can see on photographs. And behind these spectacles his eyes were half closed, as if he was slumbering. His mouth was always open, with his lower lip hanging out. He looked dim-witted, for those who did not know him."

His power was not restricted to just his hometown, but reached the high offices on Sicily as well. According to Indro Montanelli, Vizzini could get through on the telephone without trouble to the regional president, the prefect, the cardinal-archbishop of Palermo and any deputy or mayor of Sicily any time he wanted. Lumia maintains that Vizzini never explicitly ordered someone to kill somebody. "He always tried to 'accommodate' matters and bring people to reason, that is to say, in the way he had decided how people and things should be. If someone remained headstrong nonetheless… with a gesture, a nod, he left it to his friends to take care of the problem. Every now and then he intervened: 'But who made him do it?', 'Who knows what end he will find'."