The “Myth of Origins” of Italy’s mafias

A lie that has endured throughout the centuries.

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If there is one word that is (unfortunately) still associated with Italy and the Italian people all around the world, it is the word “Mafia.” A generic term that, in reality, identifies several organizations born in the so-called “Bel Paese” (literally the “Nice Country”) in the last centuries.

There are three main ones:

• Cosa Nostra, born in Sicily (Southern Italy);
• ‘Ndrangheta, born in Calabria (Southern Italy);
• Camorra, born in Campania (Southern Italy).

These have historically had the longest roots in their regions, but since the second half of the 1900s, there have been others that have developed later:

• Banda della Magliana, born in Lazio (Central Italy);
• Basilisks, born in Basilicata (Southern Italy);
• Mala del Brenta, born in Veneto (Northern Italy);
• Sacra Corona Unita, born in Puglia (Southern Italy);
• Società foggiana, born in Puglia (Southern Italy);
• Stidda, born in Sicily (Southern Italy).

This means that out of a total of twenty regions of the Italian state, as many as seven have been…