John Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York on October 27, 1940. His parents were born in the United States but his ancestors came from San Giuseppe Vesuviano, in the province of Naples in Italy. He was the fifth of the thirteen children of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and John Sr.’s wife Philomena (referred to as Fannie), and one of five brothers who became made men (fully initiated members of the Mafia) in the Gambino crime family: Eugene “Gene” Gotti was initiated before John due to John’s incarceration, Peter Gotti was initiated under John’s leadership in 1988, and Richard V. Gotti was identified as a caporegime (made member who heads a “crew” of soldiers and has major social status) by 2002. The fifth, Vincent, was initiated in 2002.
Gotti grew up in poverty alongside his brothers in East New York, Brooklyn. His father worked irregularly as a day laborer and indulged in gambling. As an adult, Gotti came to resent his father for being unable to provide for his family. In school, he had a history of truancy and bullying other students, and ultimately dropped out of Franklin K. Lane High School at the age of sixteen.
Gotti was involved in street gangs associated with New York City mafiosi from the age of twelve. When he was fourteen, he was attempting to steal a cement mixer from a construction site when it fell, crushing his toes; this injury left him with a permanent limp. After leaving school, he devoted himself to working with the Mafia-associated Fulton-Rockaway Boys gang, where he met and befriended fellow future Gambino mobsters Angelo Ruggiero and Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson.
Gotti met his future wife, Victoria DiGiorgio, who is half Italian and half Russian, at a bar in 1958. The couple was married on March 6, 1962. They had five children; Angela, Victoria, John Jr., Frank (d. 1980), and Peter. Gotti attempted to work legitimately in 1962 as a presser in a coat factory and as an assistant truck driver. However, he could not stay crime-free and, by 1966, had been jailed twice.
