The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city. Its members call themselves "men of honour", although the public often refers to them as "mafiosi".

According to the classic definition, the Mafia is a criminality originating in Sicily - i.e. Cosa Nostra. However, the term "mafia" has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests.

The Mafia proper frequently parallels, collaborates with or clashes with, networks originating in other parts of southern Italy, such as the Camorra (from Campania), the 'Ndrangheta (from Calabria), the Stidda (southern Sicily) and the Sacra Corona Unita (from Apulia). However, Giovanni Falcone, the anti-Mafia judge murdered by the Mafia in 1992, objected to the inflation of the use of "Mafia" to organized crime in general:

La Mafia is a four-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas and has charted a course as a Latin music band.

La Mafia was founded in 1980 in Houston, TX. Vocalist Oscar De La Rosa & producer/keyboardist/accordionist Armando Lichtenberger Jr. created an original style that survived various changes in the music industry. The band consists of Tim Ruiz on bass, David de la Garza on keyboards and background vocals, Joe Gonzales on drums and Viktor Pacheco on Guitar in 2007. The band has won 2 Grammys & 2 Latin Grammys was nominated in 2009 for a Latin Grammy for the album Eternamente Romanticos.

La Mafia, seeking to expand their musical horizons, began touring extensively in Mexico and Latin America beginning in the late 1980s. The practice of Mexican-American artists performing in Mexico on a large scale was unheard of before La Mafia. Back home, La Mafia has performed in front of three record-setting crowds at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Houston Astrodome.

Salvatore Giancana (born Salvatore Giangana; June 15, 1908 – June 19, 1975), better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957–1966. Among his other nicknames were, "Momo", "Mooney," "Sam the Cigar," and "Sammy."

Born as Salvatore Giangana to Sicilian immigrants in Little Italy, Chicago. His father, Antonino (later simplified to Antonio) Giangana, owned a pushcart and later briefly owned an Italian ice shop, which was later firebombed by gangland rivals of his son.

Sam Giancana joined the Forty-Two Gang, a juvenile street crew answering to political boss Joseph Esposito. Giancana soon developed a reputation for being an excellent getaway driver, a high earner, and a vicious killer. After Esposito's murder, in which Giancana was allegedly involved, the 42 Gang transformed into a de facto extension of the Chicago Outfit. The Outfit was initially wary of the 42ers at first, thinking them too wild. However, Giancana's leadership qualities, the fact that he was an excellent "wheel man" with a get-away car and his knack for making money on the street gained him the notice of Cosa Nostra higher-ups like Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo. In the late 1930s, Giancana became the first 42er to join the Outfit. In 1942, Giancana also allegedly forced jazz musician Tommy Dorsey into letting singer Frank Sinatra out of his contract early, so that Sinatra could expand his career. This story was famously referenced in The Godfather. Giancana is also credited with the murder of Chicago "Policy King" Theodore Roe in 1952.

Cristiana Capotondi (born 13 September 1980) is an Italian actress.

Capotondi was born in Rome to an Italian family with partial Italian Jewish descent (her maternal grandfather was Jewish). She graduated from the Università La Sapienza in Rome with a degree in communication sciences.

Capotondi first gained popularity in a commercial ad for the "Maxibon Motta" ice cream. Her acting career began at the age of thirteen in the Italian series Amico mio, aired by RAI.

Capotondi debuted in cinema in 1995 with the comedy Vacanze di Natale '95. Between 1993 and 2006 she worked mostly in television, starring in 2004-2006 in the series Orgoglio (TV series), aired on Rai Uno. She gained additional exposure in the film Notte prima degli esami (2006), in which she starred as a main character alongside Nicolas Vaporidis. In 2009 Capotondi played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria in the ZDF/Rai Uno/ORF co-production Sissi.

She is to be the 'madrina' of the 2011 Giro d'Italia.