Italian mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, one of the most notorious crime figures of his time, has died in a Milan hospital at the age of 83, prison authorities said.

Provenzano was the undisputed head of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra Mafia from 1993 until his arrest in 2006 ended 43 years on the run.

As a young hitman in Corleone, the hill town near Palermo made famous in the Godfather films, Provenzano made a name for himself with such ruthlessness he became known as "Binnu the tractor" because of the way he mowed down clan enemies.

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