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Al Capone

American gangster (1899–1947)

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an Italian-American organized crime leader. He was born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York; moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1920; and died in 1947 on Palm Island in Miami Beach, Florida.[2]

Al Capone
Al Capone in 1930
Born
Alphonse Gabriel Capone

(1899-01-17)January 17, 1899
New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 25, 1947(1947-01-25) (aged 48)
Palm Island, Florida, U.S.
Resting placeMount Carmel Cemetery[1]
Hillside, Illinois, U.S.
Other namesScarface, Big Al, Big Boy, Public Enemy No. 1
Occupation(s)Criminal mastermind, bootlegger, gangster, boss of Chicago Outfit
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Spouse
Mae Coughlin
​
(m. 1918)​
Children1
Criminal chargeTax evasion
Penalty11-year sentence in Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary and Alcatraz
Signature

Capone controlled organized crime in Chicago from 1925 to 1931. He led the Chicago Outfit (also called The Chicago Mafia or the Chicago Mob).[2] At the time, he was perhaps the most famous gangster in the country.[2] He was once named "Public Enemy Number One."[3]

In 1931 Capone was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for not paying income taxes to the federal government.[3] He was released early from federal prison in 1939 and died in 1947.[2]

Early life

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Capone's parents were Italians who migrated from Naples to the United States in 1893. They had nine children (Al was the fourth) and lived in Brooklyn, New York City.

Capone dropped out of school in the sixth grade at age 14, after hitting a teacher. After that:

He worked a variety of odd jobs—as a candy store clerk, a bowling alley pinboy, a laborer in an ammunition plant, and a cutter in a book bindery—all the while serving in the South Brooklyn Rippers and Forty Thieves Juniors, two “kid gangs”—that is, bands of delinquent children known for vandalism and petty crime that were common in New York at the time.[2]

Criminal activities

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In New York City

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Capone then joined the powerful Five Points Gang in Lower Manhattan and became a racketeer.[4] While working at the Harvard Inn (a bar and dance hall in Coney Island), Capone unintentionally insulted a woman. Her brother, Frank Galluccio, slashed Capone on the left side of his face three times with a knife.[5] The attack left scars and the press gave Capone the nickname "Scarface" (which he hated).[5][6]

After the attack, Capone tried to hide the scarred left side of his face any time he was photographed. He claimed the injuries were wounds he got fighting in World War I.[6]

Capone's closest friends in New York City called him "Snorky."[7] (This is a term for a sharp dresser: a person who wears fancy, fashionable clothing).[7]

 
During the Great Depression, men line up outside a soup kitchen set up by Capone (1931)

Leading the Chicago Outlet

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Starting in the 1920s, Capone led the Chicago Outfit (also called the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, or The Organization).[8] The Outfit had started in the 1910s on Chicago's South Side as part of the American Mafia. Under Capone, it became much more powerful.[8]

According to the FBI:[4]

In the “roaring twenties,” Al Capone ruled an empire of crime in [Chicago]: gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, bribery, narcotics trafficking, robbery, “protection” rackets, and murder.

Some estimates say Capone's Chicago Outlet pulled in around $100 million a year.[6] Most was from bootlegging, followed by gambling, prostitution, racketeering and other illicit activities.[6] Capone was unapologetic and said he was doing a “public service” for Chicagoans:[6]

Ninety percent of the people of Cook County drink and gamble and my offense has been to furnish them with those amusements.

The Beer Wars

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Capone and the Outfit fought bloody wars with other gangs over who could control the trade of illegal alcohol. These conflicts have been called the Beer Wars.[8]

Capone probably ordered the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, where seven members of Chicago's North Side Gang were murdered.[8][9]

Prison

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Capone's private cell at Eastern State Penitentiary

In 1931, Capone's time as an organized crime leader ended. That year, the United States government arrested, tried, and convicted him for not paying federal income tax. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.[10]

Just after Alcatraz Federal Prison opened in 1934, Capone was transferred there.[11] He was imprisoned at Alcatraz at the same time as many other famous prisoners. These included George "Machine Gun" Kelly; two members of the famous Barker-Karpis Gang (Alvin Karpis and Ma Barker's son Arthur ("Doc").[11][12]

Capone stayed at Alcatraz for five years. Due to his good behavior, he was permitted to play banjo in the Alcatraz prison band, the Rock Islanders, which gave regular Sunday concerts for other inmates.[13] Capone also transcribed the song "Madonna Mia", creating his own arrangement as a tribute to his wife Mae.[14]

 
Al Capone's prison file from Alcatraz

Illness

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At Alcatraz, it became increasingly obvious that Capone's cognitive health was worsening. In February 1938 he was formally diagnosed with neurosyphilis: syphilis had spread to his brain.[15][16] His mental abilities declined, and he spent the last year of his Alcatraz sentence in the hospital section, confused and disoriented.[17]

In 1939 the U.S. government decided to free Capone early. His health was poor and worsening quickly from advanced syphilis. He was released after serving seven and a half years in prison, paying all of the taxes he owed, and paying fines.

After he was released, Capone's health continued to worsen. He developed paresis (muscle weakness or paralysis).[15] Because of syphilis's effects on the brain, he lost more and more cognitive abilities. A 2016 book says Capone became “a blubbering invalid, who had deteriorated to the mental age of fourteen.”[15] By 1946 he had the mental abilities of a 12-year-old child, according to his doctor and a psychiatrist.[4]

 
Skull of a person who, like Capone,[15] had neurosyphilis (syphilis in the brain)

Release and death

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After he was released from prison, he was transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for syphilis treatment. Because of his bad reputation, Johns Hopkins refused to treat him, but Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital did. Capone was grateful for the compassionate care that he received and donated two Japanese weeping cherry trees to Union Memorial Hospital in 1939.[18]

After he left the hospital, he travelled to his mansion in Palm Island, Florida.[19][20][21] In 1942, after mass production of penicillin began in the United States, Capone was one of the first American patients treated by the new drug.[22] Though it was too late for him to reverse the damage to his brain, it did slow down the progression of the disease.[22]

In January of 1947, Capone had a stroke. He survived and regained consciousness, but then caught pneumonia. On January 25, 1947 his heart stopped and he died in his home, surrounded by his family.[23] His body was transported back to Chicago a week later and a private funeral was held.[24]

He was originally buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago. In 1950, Capone's remains, along with those of his father, Gabriele, and brother, Frank, were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.[25]

Depictions in media

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Michael Jackson wrote a song called "Al Capone" for his 1987 album Bad. The song was not released on the album. However, when Bad was re-released on its 25th anniversary, the song was included on the album's second CD.

References

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  1. ↑ "Mount Carmel". Oldghosthome.com. Archived from the original on 2004-09-03.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Al Capone | Biography, Life, Death, Alcatraz, Syphilis, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-09-20. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Al Capone | American Experience | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Al Capone". FBI.gov. United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Origin of "Scarface" | How Mobsters Get Their Nicknames | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "8 Things You Should Know About Al Capone". HISTORY. 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Scarface to Snorky: Why Al Capone got these bizarre nicknames, and what do they mean?". MEAWW. 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Binder, John J. (2017). Al Capone's Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago during Prohibition. Amherst: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-63388-286-7.
  9. ↑ Lindberg, Richard (2016). Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City, 1837-1990. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 247–248. ISBN 978-1-4422-3195-5.
  10. ↑ "Capone convicted of tax evasion". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington: Associated Press. October 18, 1931. p. 1.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gladmin (2024-06-14). "Alcatraz's Most Dangerous Inmates: The Ghost of Alcatraz's Past". Gray Line of San Francisco. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  12. ↑ "7 Infamous Alcatraz Inmates". HISTORY. 2024-04-25. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  13. ↑ Wellman, Gregory L. (2008). A History of Alcatraz Island: 1853–2008. Arcadia Publishing. p. [1]. ISBN 978-0738558158.
  14. ↑ "Al Capone's secret song". The Straits Times. Associated Press. April 17, 2009. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Talese, Nan A. (2016). Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Lessons (1st ed.). ISBN 978-0385537155.
  16. ↑ Markel, Howard (January 25, 2017). "The infectious disease that sprung Al Capone from Alcatraz". PBS News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  17. ↑ Al Capone – The Final Chapter Archived May 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ "Al Capone Cherry Tree". Atlas Obscura.
  19. ↑ Sandler, Gilbert (August 30, 1994). "Al Capone's hide-out". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ Perl, Larry (March 26, 2012). "For Union Memorial, Al Capone's tree keeps on giving". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  21. ↑ Slade, Fred (April 10, 2014). "Medstar Union Memorial celebrates Capone Cherry Tree blooming". Abc2News. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Smee, Taryn (August 27, 2018). "Legendary Gangster Al Capone was one of the First Recipients of Penicillin in History". The Vintage News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Capone Dead At 48. Dry Era Gang Chief". New York Times. Associated Press. 2009-04-02. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-12. Al Capone, ex-Chicago gangster and prohibition era crime leader, died in his home here tonight.
  24. ↑ "Al Capone's body is returned to Chicago in secrecy for burial, 1947". Leader-Telegram. February 1, 1947. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Mount Carmel". Oldghosthome.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2004.
  • 2.“Al Capone.” World of Criminal Justice. Gale, (2002). Biography in Context.Web. 10-June 2014

Other websites

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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Al Capone
 
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Preceded by
Johnny Torrio 		Chicago Outfit Boss
1925–1932 		Succeeded by
Frank Nitti


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