Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 - January 25, 1947) more popularly known as Al 'Scarface' Capone was a famous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card is reported to have said he was a used furniture dealer. A Neapolitan born in New York, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming that city's most notorious crime figure. By the end of the 1920s Al Capone was on the Bureau of Investigation's "Most Wanted " list. His downfall occurred in the 1930s when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion and sent to the notorious island prison of Alcatraz. He died in 1947 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Alphonse Capone was born to Gabriele Capone (1865 - 1920) and his wife Teresina "T(h)eresa" Raiola (December 28, 1867 - 1952) in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, at the turn of the 20th century. Gabriele was a barber from Castellemmare di Stabia, a village reportedly situated about fifteen miles south of Naples, Italy. Teresina was a seamstress, daughter of Angelo Raiola from Angri, a town in the province of Salerno. The Capones immigrated to the USA in 1894.

The couple had seven sons and two daughters:

Vincenzo Capone (1892 - October 1, 1952). Called James Vincenzo Capone upon entering the USA. He left the family in 1908 to join a circus operating in the Midwest. Served as a lieutenant of the United States Army during World War I. Apparently changed his name to Richard Joseph Hart shortly after his discharge. He had a career as a law enforcement officer, served in the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and later became Marshal in Homer, Nebraska.
Raffaele Capone (1894 - November 22, 1974). Called Ralph upon entering the USA. Later joined his younger brother in Chicago.
Salvatore Capone (1895 - April 1, 1924). Better known as Frank Capone. Representative of his brother in Cicero, Illinois. Killed by members of the local police reportedly for attempting to draw a gun while they approached him.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 - January 25, 1947).
Erminio Capone (1901 - ?). Called John or affectionately "Mimi". Served prison terms for minor offenses such as vagrancy. Changed his last name to "Martin". Reportedly still alive in 1994.
Umberto Capone (1906 - June, 1980). Called Albert. Employee of the newspaper "Cicero Tribune" under the ownership of his brother Al. Changed his last name to Rayola in 1942.
Amedeo Capone (1908 - January 31, 1967). Called Matthew. Tavern owner.
Rose Capone.
Mafalda Capone.
Alphonse's life of crime started early: as a teenager he joined two gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors, and engaged in petty crime.

Capone quit high school at the age of fourteen when he fought with a teacher and worked odd jobs around the New York borough, including a candy store and a bowling alley. After his initial stint with small-time gangs, Capone joined the notorious Five Points gang headed by Frankie Yale. It was at this time he began working as a bartender and bouncer at Yale's establishment the Harvard Inn. It was here, at the Harvard Inn, that Capone would engage in a knife fight with Frank Gallucio after Capone made a bold move on his sister. Gallucio slashed Capone's face, earning him the nickname that he would bear for the rest of his life: Scarface.

In 1918 Capone married Mary Coughlin, an Irish girl, who gave him a son that year, Albert 'Sonny' Francis Capone. The couple lived in Brooklyn for a year, Al Capone still working for Frankie Yale and thought to have committed at least two murders, until being sent to Chicago in 1919. Yale sent his protégé to the midwest city after Capone was involved in a fight with a rival gang. Yale's intention was for Capone to 'cool off' there; little did he know that this would be the impetus for one of the most notorious crime careers in modern US history.

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