Gerlando Alberti (; September 18, 1927 – February 1, 2012), nicknamed ("the imperturbable one"), was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He belonged to the Porta Nuova family in Palermo headed by Giuseppe Calò. Alberti was involved in numerous notorious Mafia events, such as the Ciaculli massacre in 1963, the Viale Lazio massacre in 1969, the disappearance of journalist Mauro De Mauro in 1970, and the killing of Chief Prosecutor Pietro Scaglione in 1971. He was one of the top mafiosi involved in cigarette smuggling and heroin trafficking in the 1970s. He once said of the Mafia: "Mafia! What is that? A kind of cheese?" Early career Alberti was the son of a fruit seller and was born and grew up in Palermo, in the derelict district of Danisinni. He was born at home; the midwife begged to be allowed to bring his mother to the front door because of the lack of daylight in the house. He only went to school for four years. Alberti was initiated in the Mafia by Gaetano Filippone. His first test was to steal an entire cheese. In 1956 he was acquitted of a killing for lack of evidence. In the 1950s and 1960s, Alberti was considered to be an upstart Mafia boss in the shadow of men like Pietro Torretta, Tommaso Buscetta and the La Barbera brothers. They formed the so-called "New Mafia", which adopted new gangster techniques. Those starting their careers in their shadow were forming into new generation of mafiosi; they had initiative, and the road to leadership of a cosca had suddenly become quicker and more readily available to those who were fast with their tommy-guns. Alberti's official business was selling textiles, employing a squad of travelling salesmen, a wonderful cover for both his trafficking operations and smuggling jewels and works of art (he allegedly possessed a Caravaggio Nativity). In 1961 he set up a textile trading business in Milan and formed a cosca in Northern Italy, with bases in Genoa and Milan. Mafia killer? Alberti was indicted in July 1963 with 53 other mafiosi after the Ciaculli massacre, which turned the First Mafia War into a war against the Mafia. Together with Tommaso Buscetta, he was suspected of the attack against Angelo La Barbera, one of the protagonists of the war, in Milan in May 1963. At the "Trial of the 114" he was acquitted but sent into internal