‘She understood her power’: the death of mafia boss Pupetta Maresca

Naples authorities refuse a public send-off for the convicted murderer known as Lady Camorra

No crowds attended the cortege for Assunta Maresca, better known as Pupetta Maresca, who died at home this week in Castellammare di Stabia aged 86. Maresca, a convicted murderer and mafia boss also known as Lady Camorra, had been the centre of such frenzied media attention in her life that Naples authorities declared she would not have a public send-off.

We are seeing on social media a glorification of this woman who is a symbol of the Camorra in our neighbourhood," Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a regional councillor for the Europa Verde party, said in a letter to the Naples police. The mythologising of bosses is to be avoided at all costs."