Lucky Luciano Biography

Lucky Luciano Biography

Full Name: Mr. Salvatore Lucania
Date of Birth: November 24, 1897
Place of Birth: Sicily, Italy
Died: January 26, 1962
Place of Death: Naples, Italy
Classification: Heroes & Icons


One of the most renowned, yet feared mobsters of the 20 th century, Lucky Luciano rose to the top of organized crime by killing off his enemies, and was popular in his own circles for bringing together Italian crime families under one supreme head. He ordered numerous murders, was involved in the international drug trade, and even helped the U.S. government in their investigations.

Born in Sicily, young Luciano came to the United States when he was ten years old. From his early days in New York City’s East Side, he was a natural leader and crime boss, even in high school. Within a few years, he joined the Five Points Gang. The team worked as bootleggers during prohibition. Luciano rose in rank and notability among New York’s crime bosses. Namely due to Lucky’s connection to Frank Costello, he was able to get involved in more than petty crime.

The Castellammarese War was underway by the time Lucky was one of the head figures of the Masseria crime family. During this time, Lucky was able to kill off his adversaries and rise in rank and power among the crime bosses in New York. Through his leadership, the crime families of New York came together and decided to stop their conflict with each other – they would profit, in more ways than one, by working together. The families divided territories, took on different roles, and held meetings where they would decide what their next ploy or scandal would be.

The famed Thomas Dewey was able to put Lucky Luciano behind bars and gained so much prestige from the incident that he was elected the Governor of New York. He was even elected as a presidential nominee for the Republican Party. However, Luciano only served part of his ten-year sentence because the U.S. government needed his help as an informant to the Sicilian and other mafia leaders in Italy.

After Lucky Luciano was through with corroborating for the U.S., he was paroled and forced to leave the United States and not return. From Italy, however, Luciano was able to control his crime ring effectively. His involvement in the heroin trade in Europe and America led to millions of dollars of trafficking each year. He died of a heart attack, which many considered was brought on by poisoning, in Italy