Former Mafia Boss Turns to Dante in Prison

ROME — The Sicilian Mafia's former godfather, Bernardo Provenzano, who is serving life in prison, is spending his time reading Dante and writing to a pen pal. Mr. Provenzano, 74, has become close friends with Michele Bonavota, 40. Ms. Bonavota told the Corriere della Sera: "When I saw his picture after his arrest, I felt a sympathy. I read that he asked for a bible, and I thought he might also like a copy of the 'Divine Comedy,' so I sent one. He thanked me, so I also sent him an Italian dictionary."

Ms. Provenzano appears to have taken Dante to heart and began one of his letters to Ms. Bonavota with the famous quotation from the beginning of the "Inferno."

"I have read the 'Inferno,'" he wrote. "And especially where it says that on life's journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost."

The former boss of all the bosses — who ordered the assassination of a pair of anti-Mafia investigators, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino — told Ms. Bonavota that "when reason and force collide, force wins and reason is lacking."

However, Ms. Bonavota said: "He may have done wicked things but no worse than those things done by others who are still free. "And it seems he is paying for them. And as they say, he is not like Toto Riina [another boss], who wanted blood. And he is always praying these days."

Prison authorities have recently placed Mr. Provenzano under maximum security after a report found that he was still in effective control of Cosa Nostra.

The mayor of Vittoria, a small town in Sicily, has promised that no resident will have to pay any tax if they denounce mobsters who ask for protection money, or the pizzo. Around 80% of shops in Sicily are forced to hand over cash to the Mafia.