Nicolo Schiro (2 September 1872 – 29 April 1957) was boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1912 to 1930, succeeding Sebastiano DiGaetano and preceding Salvatore Maranzano.
Biography[]
Nicolo Schiro was born on 2 September 1872 in Roccamena, Sicily, Italy, the grandson of an Albanian immigrant. In 1897, Schiro moved to the United States, and he settled in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City in 1902. By 1912, he took over Sebastiano DiGaetano's Williamsburg American Mafia gang, and he was known to have good relations with local politicians due to his restriction of crime to fellow Sicilian immigrants.
In 1921, Schiro, Vito Bonventre, and Stefano Magaddino murdered the killer of Magaddino's brother in New Jersey, leading to him being arrested. Schiro would join Salvatore Maranzano's organization during the Castellammarese War, and his murder of Gaetano Reina led to Joe Masseria forcing him to pay him $10,000 before stepping down as Don. Maranzano took over the future Bonanno crime family from Schiro, and Schiro returned to Italy, renouncing his American citizenship in 1949.
He died in Camporeale, Sicily in 1957 at the age of 84.
| Don of the Bonanno crime family | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Sebastiano DiGaetano |
1912 - 1930 | Succeeded by: Salvatore Maranzano |