Sangiorgi report

Sangiorgi report is the name given to a series of notes and reports on the mafia in Sicily by the questore of Palermo Ermanno Sangiorgi and sent to the ministry of the Interior. It is composed of 31 reports, for a total of 485 pages, written between November 1898 and February 1900.^[1] The report contains the first complete picture of Cosa Nostra to be made and the first official document that defines the mafia as a criminal organization founded on an oath and primarily focusing on protection racket as its main activity.^[2]

Of romagnol origins,^[3] Sangiorgi arrived in Palermo in August 1898, after having served in other Sicilian cities and having achieved considerable successes against criminal groups in the west of the island. The biggest operation he took part in was against the so called "Brotherhood of Favara", a criminal organization operating in Favara in the province of Agrigento in the late 19th century. Thanks to Sangiorgi's efforts, more than 200 people were arrested in the area of Favara for several murders committed by the organization. One of the leaders of the brotherhood was arrested, wearing a cloak while he was in the process of initiating two members into the group, and on his arrest police found a written list of the rules of the organization. This was followed by the discovery of dozens of skeletons of victims of the "brotherhood" hidden in remote locations such as caves, drained ponds, and disused zolfare. Confessions by some of the affiliates led to the recovery of further variants of the organization's rules, and also its hierarchy:^[4] one or more capi-testa ruled over several capidecina, every one of whom had no more than ten affiliates under him; the initiation ritual involved piercing the new member's index finger with a small spike, and let the blood drip on a paper image of a saint, which was then burnt as the affiliate recited the oath of loyalty.^[5] this ceremony was typical of the cosche of Palermo, of which many members of the "brotherhood" had been in contact with in 1879, during imprisonment with Palermitan mafiosi in the jail of Ustica.^[6] In 1885 all members were put on trial in Agrigento, and many recanted their confessions, claiming they had been obtained under torture, but nonetheless most of them were convicted and imprisoned.^[4][6]