Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), more popularly known as Al "Scarface" Capone, was a famous American Gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card is reported to have said he was a dealer in used furniture. A Neapolitan born in New York, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming that city's most notorious crime figure. By the end of the 1920s Al Capone was on the Bureau of Investigation's "Most Wanted" list. His downfall occurred in 1931 when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion and sent to the notorious island prison of Alcatraz. He died in 1947 at his estate in Miami, Florida.

Birth and early life

Alphonse Capone was born to Gabriele Capone (1865–1920) and his wife Teresina "T(h)eresa" Raiola (December 28, 1867–1952) in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, at the turn of the 20th century. Gabriele was a barber from Castellammare di Stabia, a village reportedly situated about fifteen miles south of Naples, Italy. Teresina was a seamstress and the daughter of Angelo Raiola from Angri, a town in the province of Salerno. The Capones immigrated to the United States in 1894.

Related Topics:
1865 - 1920 - December 28 - 1867 - 1952 - Brooklyn - New York City - New York - 20th century - Barber - Castellammare di Stabia - Naples - Italy - Seamstress - Angri - Salerno - United States - 1894

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The couple had seven sons and two daughters:

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• Vincenzo Capone (1892–October 1, 1952). Called James Vincenzo Capone upon entering the United States. He left the family in 1908 to join a circus operating in the Midwest. Served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I. Apparently changed his name to Richard Joseph Hart shortly after his discharge. He had a career as a law enforcement officer, served in the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and later became Marshal in Homer, Nebraska.
• Raffaele Capone (1894–November 22, 1974). Called Ralph upon entering the United States. Later joined his younger brother in Chicago.
• Salvatore Capone (1895–April 1, 1924). Better known as Frank Capone, he was a representative of his brother in Cicero, Illinois. Killed by members of the local police reportedly for attempting to draw a gun while they approached him.
• Alphonse Gabriel Capone (May, 1899–January 25, 1947).
• Erminio Capone (1901–?). Called John or affectionately "Mimi." Served prison terms for minor offenses such as vagrancy. Changed his last name to "Martin." Reportedly still alive in 1994.
• Umberto Capone (1906–June, 1980). Called Albert. Employee of the newspaper Cicero Tribune under the ownership of his brother Al. Changed his last name to Raiola in 1942.
• Amedeo Capone (1908–January 31, 1967). Called Matthew. Tavern owner.
• Rose Capone.
• Mafalda Capone.

Alphonse's life of crime started early: as a teenager he joined two gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors, and engaged in petty crime.

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Capone quit high school at the age of 14 when he fought with a teacher and worked odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. After his initial stint with small-time gangs, Capone joined the notorious Five Points gang headed by Frankie Uale. It was at this time he began working as a bartender and bouncer at Uale's establishment, the seedy Harvard Inn. It was here, at the Harvard Inn, that Capone would engage in a knife fight with a thug named Frank Gallucio after Capone had made a bold move on Gallucio's sister. Gallucio had deeply slashed Capone's right cheek with a switchblade, earning him the nickname that he would bear for the rest of his life: "Scarface," a moniker he in fact had deeply detested. Capone had instead preferred the nickname "Snorky" which meant "well-dressed" in the slang of the 1920s.

Related Topics:
Candy - Bowling alley - Five Points - Frankie Uale - Bartender - Bouncer

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In 1918 Capone married Mae Coughlin, an Irish girl, who gave him a son that year, Albert "Sonny" Francis Capone. The couple lived in Brooklyn for a year. In 1919 he lived in Amityville, Long Island, to be close to "Rum Row." Capone was still working for Frankie Yale and is thought to have committed at least two homicides, until being sent to Chicago in 1919. Yale sent his protégé to Chicago after Capone was involved in a fight with a rival gang. Yale's intention was for Capone to "cool off" there; little did he know that this would be the impetus for one of the most notorious crime careers in modern American history.

Related Topics:
1918 - Irish - Brooklyn - 1919 - Amityville - Long Island - Chicago

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