Giuseppe Nicola Summa, known as Ninco Nanco, was an Italian brigand.
17 Facts About Ninco Nanco
1.
2.
Ninco Nanco was known for his brilliant guerrilla warfare and for his brutality against his enemies.
3.
Ninco Nanco's maternal uncle, Giuseppe Nicola Coviello, was a bandit who died burned in a hut where he was hiding from the police; his paternal uncle, Francescantonio, was sentenced to ten years for beating a bourbon gendarme and, after the imprisonment, fled to Apulia after killing a man for a matter of gambling, working as a servant for a landowner of Cerignola but he left soon for banditry.
4.
Ninco Nanco's father, though an honest farmer, had alcohol problems and one of his sisters was a prostitute.
5.
Still a little boy, Ninco Nanco began to work as a servant for a nobleman and later as a keeper of vineyards.
6.
Ninco Nanco was arrested and sentenced to ten years in Ponza but he escaped in August 1860.
7.
Ninco Nanco went to Naples, trying to join the Garibaldine army but he was rejected.
8.
Ninco Nanco tried to enter the Italian National Guard but the result was negative.
9.
Ninco Nanco participated in the conquest of the entire Vulture zone, pushing forward to the province of Matera, Irpinia and Capitanata.
10.
Ninco Nanco had his own band of 50 men, remaining disposable to Crocco's orders in case of a big conflict against the royal troops.
11.
Ninco Nanco became soon known for his cold-blooded and ferine acts.
12.
Ninco Nanco helped his sisters economically, who lived in miserable conditions and, being deeply religious, he donated money to the priests to celebrate masses in honour of the Lady of Mount Carmel, whose effigy he carried always on his neck.
13.
Ninco Nanco deposited valuable items in the chapel of Monte Carmine, which were seized and sold in 1863, by order of the antibrigandage committee.
14.
Ninco Nanco's activity began to weaken in early 1864, because of the betrayal of Giuseppe Caruso, Crocco's lieutenant who decided to collaborate with the Italian government.
15.
Ninco Nanco was killed with two shots to the throat by Nicola Coviello, corporal of the guards, to avenge the death of his brother-in-law, killed by Ninco Nanco on June 27,1863, but most probably the brigand was killed by the order of Corbo himself, to prevent his revealing his protectors, including Corbo.
16.
Ninco Nanco's corpse was taken to Avigliano and hanged as a warning to the people and, the next day, it was brought to Potenza, where it was buried.
17.
Ninco Nanco's subordinates joined the band of Gerardo De Felice known as "Ingiongiolo", a brigand from Oppido Lucano.