imaginable that the Mafia was ruled from a small and isolated town in the interior of Sicily, and not by the powerful Mafia families in Palermo. The fact that Salvatore Greco "Ciaschiteddu" – a representative of the Palermo based Mafia – was made 'secretary' of the first Sicilian Mafia Commission and not Genco Russo was a clear sign that his influence was limited. Genco Russo probably only was present at the Grand Hotel des Palmes Mafia meeting in 1957 because one of his relatives from the US, Santo Sorge, was there as well. Genco Russo apparently irritated other Mafia bosses because he was too much in the media spotlight. "Did you see Gina Lollobrigida in the newspaper today," a mafioso once said, referring to the notoriously ugly appearance of Genco Russo. The new generation of mafiosi did not share the style of openly exercised power. Instead they preferred to operate clandestinely and detested publicity. In 1972 he returned to Mussomeli from his banishment. The journalist Giampaolo Pansa visited the old boss that year and described the decline in an article entitled The sunset of the mafia (in Italian: Il tramonto del mafioso) in which he depicted the old boss in rather squalid and degenerating circumstances after the death of his wife Rosalia. He did not answer the many questions and denied the existence of the Mafia: "Mafia? Mafia in Sicily? Out of the question! I have no knowledge, I do not know what to tell you."<ref name=sta> Il tramonto del mafioso], La Stampa, 23 September 1972</ref> Giuseppe Genco Russo died peacefully at the age of 83 in March 1976 from a pulmonary emphysema. Half blind from cataracts and broken in health, he had spent the last four years living quietly in his son's home. At the time of his death, he possessed 147,000 hectares of land in several holdings around Casteltermini, Caltanissetta and Canicattì through front men and family members. The final testament of Giuseppe Genco Russo was written by the Antimafia Commission in its final report: "Genco Russo was really a typical example of a Sicilian mafia boss [...] a typical example of someone who particularly is able to assume and exercise to the community the function of commander, protector, mediator and adviser." References Sources Arlacchi, Pino (1988). Mafia Business. The Mafia Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press Arlacchi, Pino (1992). [https://books.google.com/books?id=uSXwAAAAIAAJ Gli uomini del