AL CAPONE

AL CAPONE

Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York on January 17, 1899. His parents were Italian immigrants Gabriele Capone and Teresa Capone. His father was a barber and his mother was a seamstress, both born in Angri, a town in the Province of Salerno.

Gabriele and Teresa had nine children. Capone showed promise as a student, but had trouble with the rules at his strict parochial Catholic school. His schooling ended at the age of 14, after he was expelled for hitting a female teacher in the face. He worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. During this time, Capone was influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio, whom he came to regard as a mentor.

In the beginning, he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer Frankie Yale, a bartender in a Coney Island dance hall and saloon called the Harvard Inn. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club and was slashed by her brother Frank Gallucio. The wounds led to the nickname that Capone loathed: "Scarface". Yale insisted that Capone apologize to Gallucio, and later Capone hired him as a bodyguard. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds. Capone was called "Snorky", a term for a sharp dresser, by his closest friends.

Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin on December 30, 1918 at age 19. She was Irish Catholic and, earlier that month, had given birth to their son Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone. Capone was under the age of 21, so his parents had to consent to the marriage in writing.

At about 20 years of age, Capone left New York for Chicago at the invitation of Johnny Torrio. Capone began in Chicago as a bouncer in a brothel, where he contracted syphilis.

Before being sent to Alcatraz Prison in 1934 for a tax evasion conviction, he had amassed a personal fortune estimated at $100 million as the head of the infamous crime syndicate.

Capone was convicted and was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison in November 1931, fined $50,000 plus $7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes.

Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May 1932, aged 33. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, the 250-pound (110 kg) Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhoea.

After Capone was released from prison, he was referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for the treatment of paresis (caused by late-stage syphilis). Capone spent the last years of his life at his mansion in Palm Island, Florida. On January 21, 1947, Capone had a stroke. He regained consciousness and started to improve, but contracted pneumonia. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest the next day. On January 25, 1947, Al Capone died in his home, surrounded by his family; he wаs buried аt Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.

TEXT COMPREHENSION

01-Al Capone got the scar that spawned his nickname “scarface” in _______________.

a)New York b)Chicago c)Atlanta d)Baltimore e)Hillside

02-Check the correct altenative according to the text:

a)Johnny Torrio was a relative of Al Capone

b)Al Capone was born in Angri in the province of Salerno

c)Al Capone was a Italian immigrant

d)After release, Al Capone slowly deteriorated

e)Al Capone met Frank Yale in Chicago

03-Al Capone passed away because of a

a)heart failure b)stroke c)syphilis d)pneumonia e)gonorrhea

04-Who bred the scar on Al Capone’s face?

a)Frank Yale b)Teresa c)Albert Francis d)Johnny Torrio e)Frank Gallucio

05-Al Capone died in

a)Miami Beach b)New York c)California d)Italy e)Atlanta