As a young man he was known as "Binnu the tractor" because of the way he mowed down enemies when he was a rising hitman of the Corleone clan.

His ability to evade capture for so many years while remaining in Sicily had become legendary.

Last year, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Pietro Grasso, caused a storm by saying Provenzano was protected by politicians and policemen.

Police came close to arresting him many times but he managed to elude them, often at the last minute when the net was close.

His wife Saveria and two children have lived in Corleone since 1992. For years she ran the Splendor laundry shop.

In the past 13 years that he had been running the mafia, investigators say Provenzano instituted a "kinder, gentler" style in an attempt to give it a lower profile he hoped would take the police spotlight off the crime organization.