Meyer Lansky: biography, family, origins and activities

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It was Meyer Lansky who made the American mafia a legend. It is impossible to deny that he was ruthless, but at the same time his nickname was "Accountant", which indicates that he was very different from his other associates. It was this man who for many years was considered the most important person in the country, since he not only raised the gambling business to the top and was one of the co-founders of the mafia syndicate, but also had a hand in the flowering of the political careers of Robert Kennedy and Estes Kefauver. The biography of Meyer Lansky was put into the creation of the prototype of Human Roth, which became the inspiration for the famous Michael Corleone from The Godfather. But be that as it may, it is impossible not to admit that for almost fifty years it was he who was one of the main leaders of the mafia.

Origin

In 1999, a film about Meyer Lansky was released, which received the same name "Lansky". Unlike other gangster films, there was almost no blood in it. And this really showed the main difference between Meyer and other mafiosi: he acted with the help of his mind, connections andof money. In his book, Meyer Lansky even admitted that he never bled his hands, although there is some evidence that refutes this claim. But be that as it may, all of Lansky's activities originate precisely in his childhood.

It is recognized that Lansky had a huge amount of connections despite being Jewish. He had a great influence on the Italian mafia. However, it must be said that the beginning of his journey was very unhappy. He was born in the city of Grodno in a poor family. His parents, Jette and Max, tried to escape a country filled with anti-Semitic sentiments in search of a better life.

Meyer Lansky, then Sukhovlyansky, came to New York in 1911. His father, who had already been in America for a couple of years, managed to rent a small apartment in Brooklyn in the Jewish quarter for his family. It was there that the parents settled with their three children.

Childhood

From the photo of Meyer Lansky it is impossible to understand all the charisma that this man possessed. He was very different from his father. As you know, Max Lansky had a very weak character and was deeply depressed throughout his life, and therefore could not have a noticeable effect on his son. Another was his mother: Jette loved her children very much, and especially Meyer. In his childhood, she always protected him. He paid her by completely following her instructions, according to which he was not allowed to steal. By the standards of poor Brooklyn at that time, the boy was very different from his peers: he studied well and was smart enough.

Children's games

According to Meyer Lansky's official autobiography, his first attempts to enter the gambling business began as a child. Of course, they weren't serious, since he was only betting money. It is believed that one day, walking along the road with the money that his mother gave him for meat, he saw boys playing. Lansky thought that the game was extremely simple and he would definitely win, so he bet everything and lost. He returned home and told his mother that he had simply lost them. He was not even punished, but this event became significant. He felt that he had let his family down and became somewhat of a criminal.

Meyer decided not to rush and began to study the principle of the game. He figured out all the front players and understood the tricks. So after a while I realized how exactly you can win. Lansky was good at math and a perfectionist, so he was soon able to save up quite a lot of money.

Meeting Lucky Luciano

Lansky's name in the mafia is directly related to another, namely Charles Lucky Luciano. Although in the early years of their acquaintance, he was known by another, namely Salvatore. This Sicilian became the closest person to Meyer, and their friendship lasted until the end of his life.

Their meeting was truly fateful. One day, returning from school, Meyer met a group of Italians led by Luciano. They demanded money from the boy, as they considered him easy prey. But they were wrong. Lansky proved to be a strong opponent. They beat him for several days, but he did not giveim not a cent and didn't even choose another way home. This impressed Luciano so much that he decided to become his friend. As he said, for him it was a kind of moment of truth, a manifestation of "flair", which subsequently never left him.

Jew and Italian

The rise of Meyer Lansky, as already mentioned, is associated with Luciano. Their relationship was unusual for the time, as any connection between Sicilians and Jews was not welcome. However, that didn't bother them at all. They always chose each other and remained true friends until the end of their lives. As Siegel, who was close to both of them, said, they seemed to act on the same wavelength and understood each other so well that they seemed to read each other's thoughts. Some gossip even went so far that Luciano and Lansky had never quarreled in their lives, although this is hard to believe.

Starting activities

In the photo of Lansky, presented in the article, he looks the lowest of his associates, but one cannot but admit that it was he who was the "brain" of the gang. He even worked for some time in a real workshop, and so well that he was prophesied to become a shift supervisor. However, Luciano and Siegel gradually involved him in illegal activities.

After a while, after quitting, he began to steal and resell cars, and then rob banks. He began to engage in bootlegging only in the 20s, when he joined the group of Arnold Rothstein. He himself did not deal with such matters, more acting as a mentor: hetaught Luciano, Siegel and Meyer. This allowed Meyer to become an incredibly we althy man. But unlike his friends, he conducted his affairs very carefully. So discreet that even his wife didn't know about it for 20 years.

However, the activity was more or less successful until the 1930s. When the syndicate began to form in 1931, Lansky became one of its co-founders. In fact, he controlled the entire underground economy of the country. But even this did not lead to the fact that he somehow gave himself away or the illegal nature of his activities.

The fall of Luciano and Siegel

Trouble for Lansky began precisely from Luciano. He had no intention of hiding, so already in 1935 he was convicted of keeping brothels. He was given a sentence of 50 years. Lansky tried to help his friend, but he couldn't do anything. After some time, Luciano was sent to Italy. He subsequently went to Cuba, but could never return to America. He tried to run the business from the island and was quite successful at times.

After a while, Lansky experienced another blow. Another childhood friend, Bugsy Siegel, who built a casino in Las Vegas, took money from the mafia's cash register, which was punishable by the only way - death. Surprisingly, at one time it was Luciano and Lansky who introduced this rule, which they later tried to get around in order to help a loved one. Unfortunately, they were unable to help, and Siegel was soon killed.

End of life

"Accountant mafia" after1947 was completely alone. His dearest people, other than the children, were either dead or very far away. Despite this, he retained great power in his hands for many years to come. He was arrested three times, trying to put him behind bars in some way. Surprisingly, the FBI was never able to "dig up" anything, so they let him go every time. The last attempt was to claim non-payment of taxes, but even this fact could not be proved.

Meyer spent the last years of his life in freedom to his fullest pleasure. The FBI had already realized that no evidence could be found on him, and therefore they stopped shaking the elderly man. He died in his home, as a respected person, from old age on January 15, 1983. He enjoyed universal respect, a huge number of people attended his funeral. Each of them threw a five-cent coin into the grave. There was a reason for this - after losing his first five cents as a child, he vowed never to lose again in his life. He fully kept his promise.

Conclusion

Meyer Lansky really managed to reshape the world of the mafia. He became a real inspiration for gangsters, acting with reason and without shedding blood. After himself, he left not only a real gambling empire, but also two children. Lansky's children did not follow his path, his son Pavel became a military captain, and his daughter Sandra married an entrepreneur. He adored them and was very upset that the authorities of the country constantly tried to press them in order to influence Meyer.

Besides America, he also had a greatinfluence on Israel. We can say that in many ways it was he who helped establish a state that could help the Jewish people, to which he himself belonged. At the end of his life, he even hid there for a while, but Israel still could not protect him. However, the Americans were not able to condemn either, so depriving him of his passport became simply useless.

One can't help but admit that Lansky was a real economic genius. A poor immigrant, he amassed a fortune that exceeded the value of the largest enterprise in the country. Many economists openly admit that even in our time, few businessmen can achieve the same result, moreover, build their activities on crime and end their lives peacefully.