Carmine Galante

Carmine Galante (pronounced gah-LAN-tay), also known as "Lilo" and "Cigar" (February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979), was a mobster and boss of the Bonanno crime family. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (an Italian slang word for cigar).

Biography

Background

Camillo Carmine Galante was born on February 21, 1910, in a tenement building in the East Harlem section of Manhattan. His parents, Vincenzo "James" Galante and Vincenza Russo, had emigrated to New York City in 1906 from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, where Vincenzo was a fisherman.

Carmine Galante had two brothers, Samuel and Peter Galante, and two sisters, Josephine and Angelina Galante. Carmine Galante married Helen Marulli, by whom he had three children; James Galante, Camille Galante, and Angela Galante. For the last 20 years of his life, Carmine Galante actually lived with Ann Acquavella; the couple had two children together. He was the uncle to Bonanno crime family capo James Carmine Galante.