Renato Vallanzasca

Renato Vallanzasca Costantini (Italian pronunciation: [reˈnaːto vallanˈdzaska, -ˈtsaska]; born 4 May 1950) is a notorious Italian mobster from Milan who was a powerful figure in the Milanese underworld during the 1970s.

Following numerous robberies, kidnappings, murders, and many years as a fugitive, he is currently serving four consecutive life sentences with an additional 295 years in prison, but with permission to work outside during the day. This enables him to go to work every morning in a workshop in the periphery of Milan, making bags from recycled material. He is a local celebrity in Milan, famous for appealing to part of public opinion for his image linked to the "myth of the bandit".

Biography

Early life

Vallanzasca was born in Milan, in the Lambrate district where his mother owned a clothing store. He was given the surname of his mother because his biological father, Osvaldo Pistoia, was already married to another woman by whom he had three children.

Vallanzasca became involved in vandalism and petty criminal activities early in his childhood. His first arrest occurred at the age of eight for having tried to let a tiger out of its cage, which belonged to a circus that had tented near his house. He was apprehended the following day and taken to Cesare Beccaria detention home. Because of this act, he was legally compelled to move into an aunt's house, in via degli Apuli, in the district of Giambellino, in the southern periphery of Milan, practically on the opposite side of the city.