Rita

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Lore & Background

Rita's path to collaboration began in 1985 when a rival hitman shot her father, Vito, a shepherd. Her brother Nicola vowed revenge and likely knew the killer's identity, but he too was killed by the Mafia in June 1991. Rita became privy to detailed information about Partanna's criminal underworld through her brother and his wife, Piera Aiello. When Piera went to the police in July 1991, Rita followed suit in November at age 17. She disclosed the names of men who murdered her father and brother, along with details of a war that claimed 30 lives. Her mother, steeped in Mafia culture, rejected her daughter's choice, viewing the police as enemies, and forced Rita out of their home. Alone in a seventh-floor safe house in Rome, Rita relied entirely on Borsellino, whom she called "Uncle Paolo." He visited her whenever he was in town, pinching her cheek and jokingly calling her a "mafiosa with a skirt."

In Their Own Story

The turning point arrived on July 19, 1992, when Cosa Nostra killed Borsellino with a car bomb on Via D'Amelio, less than two months after killing Giovanni Falcone near Capaci. Rita recorded in her diary: "You have died for what you believed in, but without you, I too am dead." Feeling isolated and terrified, she wrote a final note on July 26 stating, "I am devastated by the killing of Judge Borsellino. Now there's no one to protect me, I'm scared, and I can't take it any more." Shortly after, she locked herself in her apartment and jumped from the window. Her sacrifice transformed her desire for revenge into a pursuit of justice. Unlike typical informants, Rita was not a "pentito" but a "collaboratore di giustizia," a title legally recognized in Italy on February 13, 2001. Her mother later destroyed her tombstone with a hammer, yet many regard Rita as a heroine for risking everything.

Reader's Guide

Rita Atria's legacy is honored through the anti-mafia association "Rita Atria," where her sister-in-law Piera Aiello was nominated president on July 25, 2008. Her story inspired Marco Amenta's 1997 documentary, *One Girl Against the Mafia: Diary of a Sicilian Rebel*, which he reworked into the 2007 film *The Sicilian Girl*. Rita's family condemned the film; her niece Vita Maria Atria (who has been in hiding since 1992) complained that faces and voices were not sufficiently altered, endangering them. Vita also noted that Amenta failed to return family footage entrusted to him, stating she was tired of "seeing speculation about her aunt's memory" serving only economic ends. Rita's own words remain a guiding principle: "Before fighting the Mafia you must first examine your own conscience... We ourselves and our wrong way of behaving is the Mafia."

Did You Know?

• Rita was only 17 years old when she began cooperating with magistrate Paolo Borsellino in November 1991.
• She provided information on a war between Mafia families in Partanna that resulted in the deaths of 30 people.
• Borsellino called Rita a "mafiosa with a skirt" and used to pinch her cheek, referring to him as "Uncle Paolo."
• Rita was not legally classified as a "pentito" (former criminal turned informant) but rather as a "collaboratore di giustizia."
• Her mother destroyed Rita's tombstone with a hammer after her daughter's death.