The Sicilian
Candid street shot, (Madeira).
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A mafia is a type of organised crime syndicate that primarily practices protection racketeering — the use of violent intimidation to manipulate local economic activity, especially illicit trade; secondary activities may be practiced such as drug-trafficking, loan sharking and fraud. Being bonded together by a code of honor, in particular the code of silence (or omertà in southern Italy), safeguards the Mafia from outside intrusion and law enforcement action.
Mafia; the term was originally applied to the Sicilian Mafia, but has since expanded to encompass other organisations of similar methods and purpose, e.g. "the Kurdish mafia" which are the most dangerous and biggest mafia groups in the world, and "the Russian Mafia", "the Japanese Mafia", or "the Albanian Mafia". The term is applied informally by the press and public; the criminal organisations themselves have their own terms (e.g. the Sicilian and American Mafia calls itself "Cosa Nostra", the Mexican Mafia calls itself La Eme and the "Japanese Mafia" calls itself yakuza).
When used alone and without any qualifier, "Mafia" typically refers to either the Sicilian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia.
The Italian term "Mafia" (sometimes spelled "Maffia" in early texts) was created in Sicily, but there are several theories about its origin. That area of Southern Italy, in fact, was an Islamic emirate (the Emirate of Sicily) between 827 and 1091. Therefore, the Sicilian adjective mafiusu (in Italian: mafioso) may derive from the slang Arabic mahyas (مهياص), meaning "aggressive boasting, bragging", or marfud (مرفوض) meaning "rejected". In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta. In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective "mafiusa" means beautiful and attractive.
The public's association of the word with the criminal secret society was perhaps inspired by the 1863 play "I mafiusi di la Vicaria" ("The Mafiosi of the Vicaria") by Giuseppe Rizzotto and Gaetano Mosca. The words Mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play; they were probably put in the title to add a local flair. The play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia: a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of "umirtà" (omertà or code of silence) and "pizzu" (a codeword for extortion money). The play had great success throughout Italy. Soon after, the use of the term "mafia" began appearing in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo, Filippo Antonio Gualterio.
According to legend, the word Mafia was first used in the Sicilian revolt – the Sicilian Vespers – against rule of the Capetian House of Anjou on 30 March 1282. In this legend, Mafia is the acronym for "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Avanti" (Italian for "Death to France, Italy Forward!"), or "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Anela" (Italian for "Death to France, Italy Begs!"). However, this version is now discarded by most serious historians
The Sicilian
Candid street shot, (Madeira).
--------------------------------------
A mafia is a type of organised crime syndicate that primarily practices protection racketeering — the use of violent intimidation to manipulate local economic activity, especially illicit trade; secondary activities may be practiced such as drug-trafficking, loan sharking and fraud. Being bonded together by a code of honor, in particular the code of silence (or omertà in southern Italy), safeguards the Mafia from outside intrusion and law enforcement action.
Mafia; the term was originally applied to the Sicilian Mafia, but has since expanded to encompass other organisations of similar methods and purpose, e.g. "the Kurdish mafia" which are the most dangerous and biggest mafia groups in the world, and "the Russian Mafia", "the Japanese Mafia", or "the Albanian Mafia". The term is applied informally by the press and public; the criminal organisations themselves have their own terms (e.g. the Sicilian and American Mafia calls itself "Cosa Nostra", the Mexican Mafia calls itself La Eme and the "Japanese Mafia" calls itself yakuza).
When used alone and without any qualifier, "Mafia" typically refers to either the Sicilian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia.
The Italian term "Mafia" (sometimes spelled "Maffia" in early texts) was created in Sicily, but there are several theories about its origin. That area of Southern Italy, in fact, was an Islamic emirate (the Emirate of Sicily) between 827 and 1091. Therefore, the Sicilian adjective mafiusu (in Italian: mafioso) may derive from the slang Arabic mahyas (مهياص), meaning "aggressive boasting, bragging", or marfud (مرفوض) meaning "rejected". In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta. In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective "mafiusa" means beautiful and attractive.
The public's association of the word with the criminal secret society was perhaps inspired by the 1863 play "I mafiusi di la Vicaria" ("The Mafiosi of the Vicaria") by Giuseppe Rizzotto and Gaetano Mosca. The words Mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play; they were probably put in the title to add a local flair. The play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia: a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of "umirtà" (omertà or code of silence) and "pizzu" (a codeword for extortion money). The play had great success throughout Italy. Soon after, the use of the term "mafia" began appearing in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo, Filippo Antonio Gualterio.
According to legend, the word Mafia was first used in the Sicilian revolt – the Sicilian Vespers – against rule of the Capetian House of Anjou on 30 March 1282. In this legend, Mafia is the acronym for "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Avanti" (Italian for "Death to France, Italy Forward!"), or "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Anela" (Italian for "Death to France, Italy Begs!"). However, this version is now discarded by most serious historians