Cosca

For the village of Coşca in Vaslui County, see Ivăneşti.

For the government agency in the Thousand Oaks area of California, see Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency.

For the organization of judicial officials, see Conference of State Court Administrators.

A cosca (Italian: [ˈkɔska]; pl. cosche in Italian and coschi in Sicilian), in Sicily, is a clan or Sicilian Mafia crime family led by a capo.

The equivalent in the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria is the 'ndrina.

Etymology

A cosca is the crown of spiny, closely folded leaves on plants such as the artichoke or the thistle, which symbolizes the tightness of relationships between mafiosi.

References

• Blok, Anton (1974/1988). The Mafia of a Sicilian village 1860-1960. A study of violent peasant entrepreneurs, Long Grove (IL): Waveland Press. ISBN 0-88133-325-5.
• Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet. ISBN 978-0-340-82435-1.
• Servadio, Gaia (1976). Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-8128-2101-7.