Meyer Lansky

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Lansky's mugshot (see also the [full image with profile])

Meyer Lansky (born Majer Suchowliński, July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), was a gangster born in Grodno, Russian Empire (now Hrodna, Belarus). His parents were Polish Jews. He was instrumental in the development of the mafia in the United States.

His family emigrated to the United States in 1911 and settled in New York. While Lansky was in school, he met a young Lucky Luciano, who shook down other kids for protection money. When Lansky refused to pay, Luciano fought him, but came away impressed with the younger boy's toughness, creating a bond that would make them friends for life.

Lansky met Bugsy Siegel in 1920. They also became friends for life and, together with Luciano, formed a lasting partnership. Lansky was instrumental in Luciano's rise to power, when he helped in the killing in 1931 of Salvatore Maranzano. As a youngster, Lansky's life was saved many times by Siegel, a fact Lansky always appreciated. The two of them managed that mob adroitly, despite it being one of the most violent Prohibition mobs.

Lansky had established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba by 1936, the year Luciano was convicted and sent to prison, as Alfred McCoy records,

"During the 1930s, Meyer Lansky "discovered" the Caribbean for northeastern syndicate bosses and invested their illegal profits in an assortment of lucrative gambling ventures... He was also reportedly responsible for organized crime's decision to declare Miami a "free city" (i.e., not subject to the usual rules of territorial monopoly)." ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Lansky also became a big investor in Siegel's Las Vegas project. After Al Capone's 1931 conviction for tax evasion, he transferred illegal funds from his casinos to Europe, where he opened up a numbered bank account following the 1934 Swiss Banking Act.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Later, according to Lucy Komisar, he would even buy an offshore bank in Switzerland, which he used for money laundering through a network of shell and holding companies ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}.

During World War II, Lansky would be instrumental in the Office of Naval Intelligence's efforts to recruit the criminal underworld into keeping an eye out for German infiltrators and submarine-borne saboteurs.

After Luciano was paroled on the condition that he return to Sicily and never leave Italy, Luciano secretly moved to Cuba, from where he began to resume his control over the American mafia operations. He also ran a number of casinos with the sanction of the dictator Fulgencio Batista (who received a percentage).^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} With the rise of Castro in Cuba, the casinos were shut, and Lansky moved on to elsewhere in the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas.

Siegel's projects in Las Vegas were failing miserably and all mafia bosses, Lansky included, were summoned to a secret meeting in Havana. While everyone else wanted Siegel killed, Lansky begged for a second chance for his friend. He was able to persuade the bosses to give Siegel a second chance, but Siegel's casino kept on losing money and a second meeting was called. This time, the casino was able to turn in a small profit during the month of their second meeting, and that, together with Lansky's pleading and Luciano's hopes their old friend could still do good in Vegas, convinced them to give Siegel a third chance. That small profit turned out to be only a small hurrah, and, leading to a third meeting in Cuba. Despite Lansky's insistence they give Siegel another chance, he was killed in 1947.

Later on, during the 1960s, Lansky became involved in drug smuggling, prostitution, extortion, investing in hotels and golf courses; notably, Caesar's Palace was funded with funds he had appropriated from the Teamsters. It is said that he made approximately US$300 million from those investments.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Luciano was unhappy with the fact Lansky was gaining more money than he was, but because Luciano had health problems, he wasn't able to do anything about it.

In the 1970s, Lansky faced tax evasion charges. Upon learning of his impending legal problems, he fled to Israel, where he lived for three years before being apprehended and returned to the United States. He served a short time in prison (because of ill health) and was released shortly after.

Lansky died of lung cancer, reportedly leaving behind a fortune of over US$400 million, although this has since been disputed.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Popular culture

The character Hyman Roth in the film The Godfather Part II is based on Lansky who was portrayed by Lee Strasberg.
The film Bugsy, a biography of Bugsy Siegel, included him as a major character, played by Ben Kingsley.
In the 1991 film Mobsters, he is played by the actor Patrick Dempsey.

A 1999 made-for-TV movie called Lansky was released starring Richard Dreyfuss as Lansky, Eric Roberts as Bugsy Siegel, and Anthony LaPaglia as Lucky Luciano.
The 1981 NBC mini series, The Gangster Chronicles, the character of Michael Lasker, played by Brian Benben was based on Lansky. The reason for the name "Michael Lasker" was due to Lansky's still living at the time.
Meyer Lansky is portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 2005 film The Lost City.

References

Michael Collins Piper, Final Judgement
Robert A. Rockaway, ''But— He Was Good To His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish

External links

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