Charles 'Lucky' Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) was a notorious Sicilian-American mobster widely regarded as the architect and organizer of modern organized crime in the United States. Born on November 24, 1897, in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, he immigrated to New York City with his family in 1907, settling in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Luciano began his criminal career as a teenager, joining the Five Points Gang and engaging in petty crimes, extortion, and gambling. During the Prohibition era (1920-1933), he rose through the ranks by bootlegging alcohol, forming alliances with key figures like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, and participating in the violent Castellammarese War (1930-1931) against rival factions led by Salvatore Maranzano. After orchestrating Maranzano's murder in 1931, Luciano abolished the 'boss of bosses' title and established the Commission, a governing body for the National Crime Syndicate that coordinated activities among Italian-American crime families, including what became the Genovese family, which he led as its first boss. This structure professionalized organized crime, expanding into labor racketeering, narcotics trafficking, prostitution, and gambling, making Luciano one of the most powerful figures in the underworld during the 1930s.

Luciano's empire faced significant legal challenges. In 1936, he was convicted on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution and running a vice ring, sentenced to 30-50 years in prison following a high-profile trial orchestrated by prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey. Despite his incarceration, he continued to influence operations through intermediaries. During World War II, Luciano allegedly cooperated with U.S. naval intelligence to prevent sabotage on New York docks, leading to his deportation to Italy in 1946 instead of full pardon. Exiled first to Sicily and later allowed to live in Naples, he attempted to re-enter the narcotics trade but was under constant surveillance. Luciano died of a heart attack on January 26, 1962, in Naples, Italy, at age 64. His life was marked by controversies, including allegations of orchestrating murders, dominating the New York waterfront through corruption, and pioneering the syndication of crime across ethnic lines, blending Italian Mafia traditions with Jewish and Irish gang elements. Criticized for his ruthless ambition and condemned by law enforcement as a dictator of vice, Luciano's legacy endures as the 'father of the American Mafia,' though his methods involved brutal violence and exploitation.