Portrait of Bernardo Provenzano

Birthday profile

Bernardo Provenzano

Italian mob boss

Born
January 31, 1933
Died
July 13, 2016
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1933

About Bernardo Provenzano

Bernardo Provenzano (Italian pronunciation: [berˈnardo provenˈtsaːno]; 31 January 1933 – 13 July 2016) was an Italian mobster, capo of the Corleone Mafia family, and of the Corleonesi, an alliance of Mafia families that originated in the town of Corleone, and de facto the boss of bosses ("il capo dei capi"). His nickname was Binnu u tratturi (Sicilian for "Bernie the tractor") because, in the words of one informant, "he mows people down". Another nickname was il ragioniere ("the accountant"), due to his apparently subtle and low-key approach to running his crime empire, at least in contrast to some of his more violent predecessors. Provenzano was part of the Corleonesi Mafia clan who backed mob boss Luciano Leggio in the ambush and murder of Michele Navarra in the late 1950s. In 1963, Provenzano became a fugitive after a failed hit. Provenzano also participated in the Viale Lazio massacre in the late 1960s. Salvatore Riina succeeded Leggio in the mid-1970s, and Provenzano became the second-in-command of the Corleonesi. Provenzano took the reins after Riina and Bagarella's arrests, but the three had already been sentenced to life in absentia in the late 1980s as part of the Maxi Trial and in the 1990s for the two high-profile bombings (the Capaci massacre and Via D'Amelio massacre) that killed prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. After 43 years living as a fugitive, he was captured in 2006, and subjected to the stringent Article 41-bis prison regime until his death on 13 July 2016. Provenzano participated in the Viale Lazio massacre on 10 December 1969: the killing of Michele Cavataio for his role in the First Mafia War. 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. Provenzano became the second-in-command of the Corleonesi, Riina's right-hand man.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Bernardo Provenzano timeline

  1. 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.
  2. 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 world when Bernardo Provenzano was born

Bernardo Provenzano was born in 1933. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1933

  • #1 song"Stormy Weather" – Ethel Waters
  • Top movieKing Kong
  • Best-selling bookLost Horizon – James Hilton

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst MLB All-Star Game played at Comiskey Park
  • Top headlineAdolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
  • Technology milestoneFM radio patented by Edwin Armstrong
  • Defining fadChain letters
  • Notable inventionFM radio
  • World population2.17 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population125.6M

1933 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Bernardo Provenzano's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19332026
Gas$0.18$3.45/gal
Average home$4,800$435,000
Average income$2,300$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.20$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population125.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.