Bernardo Provenzano

Provenzano was born the third of seven children on 31 January 1933, in Corleone, Sicily, to farmers Angelo Provenzano and Giovanna Rigoglioso.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZoUezxtU6kC|title=L'altra mafia: biografia di Bernardo Provenzano|author1=Ernesto Oliva|author2=Salvo Palazzolo|year=2001|publisher=Rubbettino Editore |isbn=9788849801071}} It was during this period that a series of illegal activities began, especially cattle raiding and the theft of foodstuffs. In August 1958, Provenzano was one of the 14 gunmen who backed mob boss Luciano Leggio in the ambush and murder of Michele Navarra. Leggio subsequently became the head of the Family. Over the next five years, Provenzano helped Leggio hunt down and kill many of Navarra's surviving supporters. In September 1963, Provenzano became a fugitive after the failed killing of one of Navarra's men – at this point, he was not running from the police but from a Mafia vendetta. Leggio said of Provenzano: "He shoots like an angel but has the brains of a chicken"."[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/apr/24/features11.g2 Gangster No 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826013432/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/apr/24/features11.g2 |date=26 August 2016 }}". The Guardian. 24 April 2001.Longrigg, Boss of Bosses, p. 152. On 10 September 1963, an arrest warrant was issued against Provenzano for the murder of one of Navarra's men.

Provenzano participated in the Viale Lazio massacre on 10 December 1969: the killing of Michele Cavataio for his role in the First Mafia War. The attack nearly went wrong, as Cavataio was able to shoot to death Calogero Bagarella before Provenzano killed him with a Beretta 38/A submachine gun and earned himself a reputation as a Mafia killer with the attack.{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2006/04/sezioni/cronaca/provenzano2/provenzano2/provenzano2.html La vera storia di Provenzano. Siino: "Sparava come un dio"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031055434/http://www.repubblica.it/2006/04/sezioni/cronaca/provenzano2/provenzano2/provenzano2.html |date=31 October 2007 }}. La Repubblica, 14 April 2006. However, according to Gaetano Grado, one of the participants who turned government witness later, it was Provenzano who botched the attack, shooting too early.{{in lang|it}} [http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio-local/Processo-per-strage-dopo-37-anni/1626670 Processo per strage dopo 37 anni] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017223859/http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio-local/Processo-per-strage-dopo-37-anni/1626670 |date=2007-10-17 }}, La Repubblica. 29 May 2007.

Leggio was captured by police in 1974, and Salvatore Riina was effectively left in charge.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unionesarda.it/fotogallery/fotogallery/2018/05/16/accaddeoggi-16-maggio-1974-arrestato-a-milano-luciano-liggio-la-p-18-729061.html|title=#AccaddeOggi: 16 maggio 1974, arrestato a Milano Luciano Liggio, la|date=16 May 2018|website=L'Unione Sarda.it|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516074228/http://www.unionesarda.it/fotogallery/fotogallery/2018/05/16/accaddeoggi-16-maggio-1974-arrestato-a-milano-luciano-liggio-la-p-18-729061.html|archive-date=16 May 2018|url-status=live}} Provenzano became the second-in-command of the Corleonesi, Riina's right-hand man.

In 1981, Provenzano and Riina unleashed the so-called Second Mafia War, with which they eliminated rival bosses and established a new "Commission", composed only of capomandamenti;{{Cite web|url=http://archiviopiolatorre.camera.it/img-repo/fondo_zupo/Sez._I_serie_0004_Vol_011.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820234824/http://archiviopiolatorre.camera.it/img-repo/fondo_zupo/Sez._I_serie_0004_Vol_011.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-08-20|title=Ordinanza contro Michele Greco+18 per gli omicidi Reina-Mattarella-La Torre|language=it}} during the meetings of the "Commission", Provenzano participated in the decisions and the organization of numerous murders as an influential exponent of the district of Corleone{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipezzimancanti.it/download/giuffre.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022232514/http://www.ipezzimancanti.it/download/giuffre.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 October 2018|title=PROCEDIMENTO PENALE N. 124/97 R.G. A CARICO DI: BIONDOLILLO GIUSEPPE + ALTRI|publisher=TRIBUNALE DI TERMINI IMERESE|date=16 October 2002|language=it}}{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/12/08/ecco-chi-uccise-chinnici-lima-pentiti-svelano.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200726/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/12/08/ecco-chi-uccise-chinnici-lima-pentiti-svelano.html

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=4 March 2016

|title=ECCO CHI UCCISE CHINNICI E LIMA I PENTITI SVELANO I NOMI DEI KILLER|author=Attilio Bolzoni|publisher=la Repubblica|date=8 December 1993|language=it}} and repeatedly protected, with intimidation, the political career of Vito Ciancimino, the main political referent of the Corleonesi.{{cite web|url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1995/12/16/il-medico-mafioso-cugini-salvo-lo.html|title=IL MEDICO MAFIOSO ' I CUGINI SALVO E LO ZIO GIULIO ...|publisher=La Repubblica.It|language=it|access-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207200300/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1995/12/16/il-medico-mafioso-cugini-salvo-lo.html|archive-date=7 December 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite web

|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/11/20/morto-vito-ciancimino-la-dc-ai.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428092023/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/11/20/morto-vito-ciancimino-la-dc-ai.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 April 2019|title=è morto Vito Ciancimino la Dc ai tempi dei Corleonesi|author=Attilio Bolzoni |publisher=la Repubblica|date=20 November 2002|language=it}}{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/j/sezioni/cronaca/grassodenu/giuffre/giuffre.html "Provenzano confidente dei carabinieri"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224224412/http://www.repubblica.it/2005/j/sezioni/cronaca/grassodenu/giuffre/giuffre.html |date=24 February 2007 }}. La Repubblica. 22 October 2005.

In 1993 after Riina's arrest, in a meeting at Villabate, it was decided that both Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca Bagarella would take charge of holding Corleone's mandate together. But Bagarella and Provenzano had rifts because Bagarella wanted to continue with the slaughter strategy while Provenzano wanted to stop the slaughters.{{Cite web | url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=8sLeD4biWe8&feature=share | title=Bagarella non sopportava il modo di fare di Provenzano Giovanni Brusca processo Giovanni Mercadante | website=YouTube }} After Bagarella's arrest in 1995, Provenzano took the reins of the Corleonesi and all of Cosa Nostra; however, he had already been sentenced to life in absentia in 1987 at the Maxi Trial.{{Cite news|url=http://www.parlamento.it/application/xmanager/projects/parlamento/Reso.steno.26.3.2012Int..pdf|title=Audizione del procuratore Sergio Lari dinanzi alla Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia - XVI LEGISLATURA|language=it|access-date=14 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331070025/http://www.parlamento.it/application/xmanager/projects/parlamento/Reso.steno.26.3.2012Int..pdf|archive-date=31 March 2019|url-status=live}}

In 1997 and 1999 respectively, Provenzano was given life sentences for the 1992 murders of anti-mafia magistrates Falcone and Borsellino.{{Cite web |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/09/27/strage-di-capaci-24-ergastoli.html?ref=search |title=STRAGE DI CAPACI, 24 ERGASTOLI - La Repubblica.it |date=27 September 1997 |access-date=2017-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304133658/http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/09/27/strage-di-capaci-24-ergastoli.html?ref=search |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1999/02/14/borsellino-bis-sette-ergastoli-credibile-il-pentito.html?ref=search|title=Borsellino bis, sette ergastoli Credibile il pentito Scarantino|publisher=repubblica.it|date=14 February 1999|access-date=11 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211010833/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1999/02/14/borsellino-bis-sette-ergastoli-credibile-il-pentito.html%3Fref%3Dsearch|archive-date=11 December 2019|url-status=live}}

File:Provenzanophotofit.jpg

Provenzano frowned upon the use of telephones, and issued orders and communications (even to his family) through small, hand-delivered notes called pizzini.{{Cite news|author=Palazzolo, Salvo|date=13 November 2007|title=Palermo, nei "pizzini" del boss Lo Piccolo i nomi dei "soldati" delle cosche (Palermo, "pizzini" of boss Lo Piccolo name the "soldiers" of the mafia clan)|newspaper=La Repubblica|location=Rome, Italy|language=it|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2007/11/sezioni/cronaca/arrestati-lo-piccolo/vertici-boss/vertici-boss.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623234420/http://www.repubblica.it/2007/11/sezioni/cronaca/arrestati-lo-piccolo/vertici-boss/vertici-boss.html|archive-date=23 June 2008|url-status=live}} Many of the notes from Provenzano that police have intercepted sign off with religious blessings, such as one that concluded "May the Lord bless and protect you". According to mob godmother-turned-informant Giuseppina Vitale, Provenzano had appeared at a 1992 Cosa Nostra summit meeting dressed in the purple robes of a Catholic bishop.[https://www.theguardian.com/italy/story/0,12576,1485478,00.html "Mafia's boss may dress as bishop"], Guardian Unlimited, 17 May 2005.

Religious behaviour and language progressively became the prominent features of Provenzano's figure. For example, Provenzano systematically underlined verses from the Bible and took notes of relevant passages to be threaded in his pizzini through otherwise routine instructions regarding daily business matters. He also recurrently thanked 'Our Lord Jesus Christ', and referred to 'The Divine Providence' and 'Our beloved Lord', expressing the hope that 'He might help us to do the right things'. In particular, the expression Con il volere di Dio (With God's will), to date has been counted 43 times, and it often appears more than once in the same piece of communication.{{cite journal|last=Merlino|first=Rossella|title='Con il volere di Dio': Bernardo Provenzano and religious symbolic ritual|journal=Modern Italy|year=2012|volume=17|issue=3|pages=365–381|doi=10.1080/13532944.2011.611492|s2cid=145302589}}

Provenzano used a version of the Caesar cypher, used by Julius Caesar in wartime communications. The Caesar code involves shifting each letter of the alphabet forward three places; Provenzano's pizzini code did the same, then replaced letters with numbers indicating their position in the alphabet.{{cite web|url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060417/mafiaboss_tec.html|title=Mafia Boss's Encrypted Messages Deciphered|last=Lorenzi|first=Rossella|date=2006-04-17|work=Discovery News|publisher=Discovery Channel|access-date=26 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421164832/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060417/mafiaboss_tec.html|archive-date=2006-04-21}} For example, one reported note by Provenzano read "I met 512151522 191212154 and we agreed that we will see each other after the holidays...". This name was decoded as "Binnu Riina".

In October 2003, Provenzano was driven to France, allegedly by Villabate mobster Salvatore Troia, to undergo prostate surgery at a private clinic near Marseille.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160317060945/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1484524/Mafia-boss-flees-Sicily-to-have-prostate-surgery-in-France.html Mafia boss flees Sicily to have prostate surgery in France], The Telegraph, 27 February 2005. Provenzano was also provided with fake travel and medical records, under the name of Salvatore Troia's father, Gaspare Troia, a Sicilian baker.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/02/23/provenzano-il-boss-operato-in-francia.html?ref=search|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113201310/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/02/23/provenzano-il-boss-operato-in-francia.html?ref=search|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 November 2013|title=Provenzano, il boss operato in Francia|author=Attilio Bolzoni|author2=Francesco Viviano |publisher=la Repubblica|date=23 February 2005|language=it}} Mario Cusimano, another Villabate mobster who was later arrested, began to collaborate with police in 2005, and revealed to the investigators that the identity card used by Provenzano to go to Marseille had been stamped by Francesco Campanella, former president of the municipal council of Villabate,{{Cite web

|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/02/18/io-fedelissimo-di-provenzano-vi-racconto-segreti.html?ref=search |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113201216/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/02/18/io-fedelissimo-di-provenzano-vi-racconto-segreti.html?ref=search |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2013 |title=Io, fedelissimo di Provenzano vi racconto i segreti del boss|author=Salvo Palazzolo|publisher=la Repubblica|date=18 February 2005|language=it}} and in September 2005, Campanella also began to collaborate with police who confirmed that he was the one who had stamped the document.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/09/23/mafia-politica-un-nuovo-pentito.html?ref=search |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113201213/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/09/23/mafia-politica-un-nuovo-pentito.html?ref=search |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2013 |title=Mafia e politica, un nuovo pentito|author=Alessandra Ziniti|publisher=la Repubblica|date=23 September 2005|language=it}}{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/11/12/mafia-blitz-nel-feudo-di-provenzano.html?ref=search|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113201128/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/11/12/mafia-blitz-nel-feudo-di-provenzano.html?ref=search|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 November 2013|title=Mafia, blitz nel feudo di Provenzano|author=Francesco Viviano|publisher=la Repubblica|date=12 November 2005|language=it}} The Italian State Police were able to create a photofit of Provenzano based on the descriptions of informants, as well as doctors and nurses at the Marseilles clinic where Provenzano was admitted for surgery.{{cite web|url=https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/605|title=Ricostruito dalla Scientifica il volto del boss Provenzano|publisher=poliziadistato.it|date=11 April 2006|language=it|access-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006075632/https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/605|archive-date=6 October 2019|url-status=live}}

On 25 January 2005, police raided various homes in Sicily and arrested 46 Mafia suspects believed to be helping Provenzano elude the authorities.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4205361.stm "Anti-mafia raids net 46 suspects"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523112700/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4205361.stm |date=23 May 2006 }}, BBC News, 25 January 2005. Although they did not catch the elusive Mafia boss himself, investigators nonetheless unearthed evidence that the 72-year-old Provenzano was still very much alive and in control of the Mafia, in the form of his cryptic handwritten notes, his preferred method of giving orders to his men. Two months later, another raid took place. It resulted in the capture of over 80 Mafiosi, though Provenzano was not one of them.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/08/umafia.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/03/08/ixportaltop.html "Sicilian police arrest 84 Mafiosi in raids on capital"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224051337/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F03%2F08%2Fumafia.xml&sSheet=%2Fportal%2F2005%2F03%2F08%2Fixportaltop.html |date=24 December 2007 }}, The Telegraph, 8 March 2005.

Provenzano had been a fugitive from the law since 1963.{{Cite news|url=http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/04_Aprile/11/provenzano.shtml|title=Arrestato Provenzano, era ricercato dal 1963|publisher=Corriere della Sera|date=25 April 2006|language=it|access-date=14 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904153826/https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/04_Aprile/11/provenzano.shtml|archive-date=4 September 2018|url-status=live}} Until his arrest, the only known photographs of him were taken during the 1950s; the last known photo was taken in 1959: a serious youth with greased hair wearing a suit for a saint's festival. Provenzano was finally captured on 11 April 2006, by the Italian police near his home town, Corleone.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4898930.stm "'Top Mafia boss' caught in Italy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060425025424/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4898930.stm |date=25 April 2006 }}, BBC News, 11 April 2006. A spokesman for the Palermo police, Agent Daniele Macaluso, said Provenzano had been arrested during the morning near Corleone, 60 km south of Palermo and was being driven back to the Sicilian capital.[http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article357127.ece "Italy's 'top Mafia boss' is arrested"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517065235/http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article357127.ece |date=17 May 2006 }}, Independent Online Edition, 11 April 2006.{{in lang|it}} [http://www.poliziadistato.it/pds/primapagina/provenzano/index.htm Arrestato il boss della mafia Bernardo Provenzano] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412183657/http://www.poliziadistato.it/pds/primapagina/provenzano/index.htm |date=12 April 2006 }}, Polizia di Stato, 11 April 2006. The police were able to pinpoint Provenzano's exact location by the simplest of connections; they tracked a delivery of clean laundry from his family to his farmhouse hide-out.{{Cite web|url=https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/04_Aprile/13/pacco.shtml|title=Pochi metri al giorno, così arrivò il pacco – Corriere della Sera|website=www.corriere.it|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414113310/https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/04_Aprile/13/pacco.shtml|archive-date=14 April 2006|url-status=live}}

After his arrest, he was held at the maximum security prison in Terni, and subjected to the Article 41-bis prison regime.{{Cite news|author=Giovanni Bianconi|url=http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2007/04_Aprile/15/bianconi_provenzano_traduzione_cella.shtml|title=Provenzano cambia carcere – "Una torta e troppe attenzioni"|publisher=Corriere della Sera|date=15 April 2007|language=it|access-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110123/http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2007/04_Aprile/15/bianconi_provenzano_traduzione_cella.shtml|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}} After one year, he was transferred to a prison in Novara where he tried several times to communicate through pizzini.{{Cite news|author=Alessandra Ziniti|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2008/01/12/provenzano-pizzini-dal-carcere.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114125457/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2008/01/12/provenzano-pizzini-dal-carcere.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2012|title=Provenzano, pizzini dal carcere|publisher=la Repubblica|date=12 January 2008|language=it}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/cronaca/provenzano-impotenza/1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720230019/http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/cronaca/provenzano-impotenza/1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-07-20|title=Provenzano, i pizzini per curare l'impotenza|publisher=la Repubblica|language=it}} The Ministry of Justice then decided to apply "special surveillance" on Provenzano.

In total, Provenzano was given 20 life sentences plus 49 years and one month, and solitary confinement for 33 years and six months.{{Cite web|url=http://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2014/03/25/news/calcolate_le_pene_complessive_di_provenzano_e_bagarella_insieme_hanno_collezionano_33_ergastoli-81854325/|title=Calcolate le pene di Provenzano e Bagarella: insieme hanno collezionano 33 ergastoli|date=25 March 2014|website=Repubblica.it|access-date=6 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328200754/https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2014/03/25/news/calcolate_le_pene_complessive_di_provenzano_e_bagarella_insieme_hanno_collezionano_33_ergastoli-81854325/|archive-date=28 March 2020|url-status=live}}

After the arrest of Provenzano, Salvatore Lo Piccolo and Matteo Messina Denaro were thought to be the new leaders of Cosa Nostra.{{in lang|it}} [http://www.poliziaedemocrazia.it/live/index.php?domain=archivio&action=articolo&idArticolo=81La Mafia cerca il confronto con lo Stato] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005052001/http://www.poliziaedemocrazia.it/live/index.php?domain=archivio&action=articolo&idArticolo=81La |date=5 October 2017 }}, Sebastiano Gulisano, Polizia e democrazia, September 2001[https://www.theguardian.com/italy/story/0,,1752727,00.html Prosecutors fear capture of mafia boss will spark bloody war of succession], by John Hooper, The Guardian, 13 April 2006 However, about 350 pizzini were found at Provenzano's hide-out, some of which had indicated that Provenzano's joint deputies in Palermo were Salvatore Lo Piccolo and Antonio Rotolo, capomandamento of Pagliarelli, a Corleonesi loyalist in the days of Totò Riina. In a message referring to an important decision for Cosa Nostra, Provenzano told Rotolo: "It's up to you, me and Lo Piccolo to decide this thing."[https://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,1802482,00.html Police strike at heart of mafia averts bloody power struggle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108131734/http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1802482,00.html |date=8 January 2008 }}, by John Hooper, The Guardian, 21 June 2006.

Anti-Mafia prosecutor Antonio Ingroia of the Direzione distrettuale antimafia (DDA) of Palermo said that it was unlikely that there would be an all-out war over who would fill Provenzano's shoes. "Right now I don't think that's probable," he said. Of the two possible successors, Ingroia thought Lo Piccolo was the more likely heir to the Mafia throne. "He's from Palermo, and that's still the most powerful Mafia stronghold", Ingroia said.[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/12/news/mafia.php In Sicily, the end of 'Pax Mafiosa'?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217060553/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/12/news/mafia.php |date=17 February 2008 }}, International Herald Tribune, 13 April 2006

Two months after Provenzano's arrest, on 20 June 2006, authorities issued 52 arrest warrants against the top echelon of Cosa Nostra in the city of Palermo (Operation Gotha). In November 2009, Massimo Ciancimino, the son of a former mayor of Palermo Vito Ciancimino, said that Provenzano had betrayed the whereabouts of Riina. Police sent Vito Ciancimino maps of Palermo. One of the maps was delivered to Provenzano, then a Mafia fugitive. Ciancimino said the map was returned by Provenzano who indicated the precise location of Riina's hiding place.[http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/11/05/visualizza_new.html_994173998.html Boss Riina 'betrayed' by Provenzano] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605052510/http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/11/05/visualizza_new.html_994173998.html |date=5 June 2011 }}, ANSA, 5 November 2009.[http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3955391781 Italy: Top Mafia fugitive 'betrayed' by boss] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920115353/http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3955391781 |date=20 September 2011 }}, Adnkronos International, 5 November 2009.

On 19 March 2011, it was confirmed that Provenzano was suffering from bladder cancer, and he was transferred from Novara to a prison in Parma; on 9 May 2012, he attempted suicide by putting his head in a plastic bag, with the aim of suffocation, but was foiled when it was observed by a prison police officer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/05/10/provenzano-tenta-suicidio-carcere-salvato-dagli-agenti-della-penitenziaria/226092/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511230015/https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/05/10/provenzano-tenta-suicidio-carcere-salvato-dagli-agenti-della-penitenziaria/226092/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 May 2012|title=Provenzano tenta il suicidio in carcere, ma il Dap sospetta una simulazione|publisher=il Fatto Quotidiano|date=10 May 2012|language=it}}

On 9 April 2014, he was admitted into the San Paolo Hospital in Milan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/09/24/mafia-provenzano-resta-al-41-bis-cassazione-carcere-duro-serve-per-farlo-sopravvivere/2065772/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929063124/https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/09/24/mafia-provenzano-resta-al-41-bis-cassazione-carcere-duro-serve-per-farlo-sopravvivere/2065772/|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 September 2015|title=Mafia, Provenzano resta al 41 bis Cassazione: "Tutela sua salute"|publisher=il Fatto Quotidiano|date=24 September 2015|language=it}}

• In 1987, in the Maxi Trial, Provenzano was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment together with Salvatore Riina and 17 other mob bosses.{{cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1987/12/17/giudici-hanno-creduto-buscetta.html|title=I GIUDICI HANNO CREDUTO A BUSCETTA|publisher=repubblica.it|date=17 December 1987|language=Italian}}
• In 1995, in the trial for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Russo, Provenzano was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment together with Salvatore Riina, Michele Greco and Leoluca Bagarella.{{cite web|url=https://www.camera.it/_bicamerali/leg15/commbicantimafia/cronologiamafieantimafia/schedabase.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214175116/https://www.camera.it/_bicamerali/leg15/commbicantimafia/cronologiamafieantimafia/schedabase.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-12-14|title=Cronologia su mafia e antimafia|publisher=camera.it|language=it}}
• The same year, in the trial for the murders of the commissioners Beppe Montana and Antonino Cassarà, he was also sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment together with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca, Francesco Madonia and Salvatore Riina.
• The same year, in the trial for the murders of Piersanti Mattarella, Pio La Torre, Rosario di Salvo and Michele Reina, in which he was given a further life sentence in absentia together with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca, Salvatore Riina, Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia and Nenè Geraci.
• The same year, in the trial for the murder of General Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, Boris Giuliano, and Paolo Giaccone, Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia together with Salvatore Riina, Giuseppe Calò, Bernardo Brusca, Francesco Madonia, Nenè Geraci and Francesco Spadaro.{{Cite web |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/marzo/18/Delitto_Dalla_Chiesa_ottavo_ergastolo_co_0_95031816119.shtml |title=Delitto Dalla Chiesa: ottavo ergastolo a Riina |access-date=9 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003004355/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/marzo/18/Delitto_Dalla_Chiesa_ottavo_ergastolo_co_0_95031816119.shtml |archive-date=3 October 2015 |url-status=live }}
• In 1997, in the trial for the Capaci massacre in which the judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo and their escort of Antonio Montinaro, Vito Schifani and Rocco Di Cillo, lost their lives, Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia together with the bosses Salvatore Riina, Pietro Aglieri, Bernardo Brusca, Giuseppe Calò, Raffaele Ganci, Nenè Geraci, Benedetto Spera, Nitto Santapaola, Salvatore Montalto, Giuseppe Graviano, Matteo Motisi.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130613062857/http://www.fondazionefalcone.it/a_documenti/c_ergast.htm Sentenza Strage – CONDANNE ALL'ERGASTOLO]
• The same year, in the trial for the murder of Judge Cesare Terranova, Provenzano received another life sentence in absentia along with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca, Giuseppe Calò, Nenè Geraci, Francesco Madonia and Salvatore Riina.{{in lang|it}} [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1997/giugno/04/Ecco_chi_uccise_Terranova_co_0_97060411073.shtml Ecco chi uccise Terranova] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003015653/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1997/giugno/04/Ecco_chi_uccise_Terranova_co_0_97060411073.shtml |date=3 October 2015 }}, Corriere della Sera, 4 June 1997
• In 1999, Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in the trial against those responsible for the Via D'Amelio massacre, in which the judge Paolo Borsellino and five of his escort men lost their lives; together with him the bosses Giuseppe "Piddu" Madonia, Nitto Santapaola, Giuseppe Calò, Giuseppe Farinella, Raffaele Ganci, Nino Giuffrè, Filippo Graviano, Michelangelo La Barbera, Giuseppe Montalto, Salvatore Montalto, Matteo Motisi, Salvatore Biondo, Cristoforo Cannella, Domenico Ganci and Stefano Ganci.{{cite web|title=Via D'Amelio, 19 luglio 1992|url=http://www.poliziaedemocrazia.it/live/index.php?domain=archivio&action=articolo&idArticolo=286|work=Polizia e Democrazia website|access-date=23 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061137/http://www.poliziaedemocrazia.it/live/index.php?domain=archivio&action=articolo&idArticolo=286|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=live}}[http://www.antimafiaduemila.com/2011103134396/sistemi-criminali/nuovi-processi-per-la-strage-di-via-damelio.html Nuovi processi per la strage di via D'Amelio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714121929/http://www.antimafiaduemila.com/2011103134396/sistemi-criminali/nuovi-processi-per-la-strage-di-via-damelio.html|date=14 July 2014|data=14 luglio 2014}} Antimafiaduemila.com
• In 2000, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment together with Giuseppe Graviano, Leoluca Bagarella and Salvatore Riina for the 1993 bombings including Via dei Georgofili, in Florence, Milan and Rome.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2000/01/22/ergastolo-toto-riina-per-la-strage.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408222433/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2000/01/22/ergastolo-toto-riina-per-la-strage.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 April 2014|author=Gianluca Monastra|publisher=la Repubblica|date=22 January 2000|language=it|title=Ergastolo a Totò Riina per la strage}}
• In 2002, Provenzano was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the murder of judge Rocco Chinnici together with the bosses Salvatore Riina, Raffaele Ganci, Antonino Madonia, Salvatore Buscemi, Nenè Geraci, Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia, Salvatore and Giuseppe Montalto, Stefano Ganci and Vincenzo Galatolo.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/06/26/strage-chinnici-12-ergastoli-assolti-boss-motisi.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005012342/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/06/26/strage-chinnici-12-ergastoli-assolti-boss-motisi.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 October 2013 |title=Strage Chinnici, 12 ergastoli assolti i boss Motisi e Farinella|publisher=la Repubblica|date=26 June 2002|language=it}}
• In 2003, Provenzano was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the murder of Mario Francese.{{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20130130140031/http://www.fondazionefrancese.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53 Biografia Mario Francese], Fondazione Francese
• In 2009, he received another life sentence together with Salvatore Riina for the Viale Lazio massacre and the death of Michele Cavataio.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2009/04/29/strage-di-viale-lazio-ergastolo-riina-provenzano.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408221640/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2009/04/29/strage-di-viale-lazio-ergastolo-riina-provenzano.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 April 2014 |title=Strage di viale Lazio, ergastolo a Riina e Provenzano|author=Salvo Palazzolo |publisher=la Repubblica|date=29 April 2009|language=it}}

Provenzano had been romantically linked to Saveria Benedetta Palazzolo, a woman from a Mafia family from Cinisi; the couple had two children, Angelo Provenzano and Francesco Paolo Provenzano.{{Cite web|url=http://www.centroimpastato.it/publ/online/signoraprovenzano.php3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713012151/http://www.centroimpastato.it/publ/online/signoraprovenzano.php3|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 July 2009|title=La signora Provenzano|date=13 July 2009}} Palazzolo and her children lived in hiding until 1992; then, in the spring of that year, they suddenly returned to Corleone.{{Cite web|url=https://www.repubblica.it/2008/12/sezioni/cronaca/provenzano-figlio-parla/provenzano-figlio-parla/provenzano-figlio-parla.html|title="Io e mio padre Provenzano così faccio i conti con la mafia" – cronaca – Repubblica.it|website=www.repubblica.it|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001010306/https://www.repubblica.it/2008/12/sezioni/cronaca/provenzano-figlio-parla/provenzano-figlio-parla/provenzano-figlio-parla.html|archive-date=1 October 2019|url-status=live}}

Angelo had been a tour guide in Palermo, speaking about Sicilian Mafia history.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/29/mafia-victims-criticise-godfather-tours-by-son-of-infamous-sicily-boss|title=Mafia victims criticise Godfather tours by son of infamous Sicily boss|first=Rosie|last=Scammell|newspaper=The Guardian |date=29 March 2015|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001005802/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/29/mafia-victims-criticise-godfather-tours-by-son-of-infamous-sicily-boss|archive-date=1 October 2019|url-status=live}} Francesco Paolo graduated in 2005 with a doctorate in Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Palermo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/03_Marzo/23/provenzano.shtml|title=Corriere della Sera – Il figlio di Provenzano diventa dottore|website=www.corriere.it|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416192355/http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/03_Marzo/23/provenzano.shtml|archive-date=16 April 2018|url-status=live}}

On 13 July 2016, Provenzano died aged 83 at San Paolo Hospital in Milan from complications from bladder cancer.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36782555|title=Italian mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, 83, dies in jail|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=13 July 2016|date=2016-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713120211/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36782555|archive-date=13 July 2016|url-status=live}} Refused a public funeral by the church and the Palermo police chief,{{Cite web|url=https://www.secoloditalia.it/2016/07/per-provenzano-funerali-vietati-ce-si-indigna-non-fa-vendette/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714163011/https://www.secoloditalia.it/2016/07/per-provenzano-funerali-vietati-ce-si-indigna-non-fa-vendette/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2016|publisher=Secolo d'Italia|date=13 July 2016|language=it|title=Per Provenzano funerali vietati. Ma c'è chi si indigna: lo Stato non-fa vendette}} Provenzano was cremated in Milan, and on 18 July his ashes were buried in his family tomb in a cemetery in his hometown of Corleone.{{Cite web|author=Salvo Palazzolo|url=http://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2016/07/18/news/corleone_cimitero_blindato_per_due_ore_arriva_l_urna_con_le_ceneri_di_provenzano-144355654/|title=Corleone, al cimitero le ceneri di Provenzano. Messa per il boss condannato per le stragi|publisher=La Repubblica|date=18 July 2016|language=it|access-date=11 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403095015/https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2016/07/18/news/corleone_cimitero_blindato_per_due_ore_arriva_l_urna_con_le_ceneri_di_provenzano-144355654/|archive-date=3 April 2019|url-status=live}}

• Il fantasma di Corleone, a 2006 film by Marco Amenta;
• L'ultimo dei Corleonesi, a 2007 film by Alberto Negrin where Provenzano is played by David Coco;
• Scacco al re - La cattura di Provenzano, a 2007 documentary series;
• Il Capo dei Capi, a 2007 TV series by Enzo Monteleone and Alexis Sweet, where Provenzano is played by Salvatore Lazzaro;
• L'ultimo padrino, a 2008 two-part television miniseries by Marco Risi, where Provenzano is played by Michele Placido.
• Il cacciatore (Cacciatore: The Hunter in English) is an Italian television series (2018– ) based on the autobiographical book Cacciatore di mafiosi by magistrate Alfonso Sabella, in which Provenzano is one of the main Mafia targets.

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

• Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet, {{ISBN|0-340-82435-2}}
• Jamieson, Alison (2000). The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, London: MacMillan Press Ltd {{ISBN|0-333-80158-X}}
• Longrigg, Clare (2009), Boss of Bosses: How One Man Saved The Sicilian Mafia, London: John Murray, {{ISBN|978-0-7195-6958-6}}
• {{in lang|it}} Oliva, Ernesto & Salvo Palazzolo (2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080112215655/http://www.capitanoultimo.it/d/mafialibro8.htm L’altra mafia: Biografia di Bernardo Provenzano], Soveria Mannelli (CZ): Rubbettino Editore.
• Stille, Alexander (1995).Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic, New York: Vintage {{ISBN|0-09-959491-9}}
• {{in lang|it}} [http://www.bernardoprovenzano.net A biography of Provenzano]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,477367,00.html The Guardian: Gangster No 1], 24 April 2001
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050409080213/http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901040906-689399,00.html Time Europe Magazine: Sicily's Invisible Man], 29 August 2004
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4899512.stm Profile from the BBC], 11 April 2006
• [http://www.ericjlyman.com/usaprovenzano.html Experts: Provenzano capture not the end of the Sicilian mob], by Eric J. Lyman, USA Today, 12 April 2006
• [https://www.theguardian.com/italy/story/0,,1752727,00.html Prosecutors fear capture of mafia boss will spark bloody war of succession], by John Hooper, The Guardian, 13 April 2006
• [https://archive.today/20070208073730/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2133886,00.html The Sopranos? No, the Shepherds], by Federico Varese, The Times, 14 April 2006
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930220342/http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article622650.ece In search of the real Godfather], by Peter Popham, The Independent, 4 June 2006
• Short clip from {{YouTube|rsonbfXXD00|"Scacco al Re"}} from RAI TV.

{{Mafia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provenzano, Bernardo}}

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Category:Italian crime bosses

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Category:Sicilian mafiosi

Category:Sicilian mafiosi sentenced to life imprisonment

Category:Italian people convicted of murdering police officers