Most prominent Mafia boss?

Wanted to get some opinions let the debate begin. -take it easy

John Gotti, Al Capone, and Tota Riina.

Webster's defines "prominent" as "conspicuous" or "noticeable." If that was what you meant, the hands-down winner was Al Capone.

But was Capone actually a Mafia member? He was Napolitan and back then membership was still for Sicili. E vero?

But Al Capone was in the comissione, isn´t that enough?

I thought so. True, Capone wasn't a Mafia guy, but I took the question to include all organized crime bigshots. And yes, Charlie Luciano made Capone the chairman of the Commission. It was an honorary title, and he still wasn't a Mafia guy, but he sat with the mighty.

Joe Columbo, it must be said, appeared on nationwide TV (the Dick Cavett Show), led rallies of hundreds of thousands in NYC's Columbus Circle, and gave many interviews to newspaper and magazine reporters. But Capone, in his day, was even more famous than Babe Ruth.

Capone gets my nod!
He is the gangster that everyone (still) knows.....

I am not nearly as well versed as many of you on here (SC, Trumbull), but I would have to give the nod to Capone or Gotti.

Seeing as how they were way more flashy than the others (Luciano was flashy in his own way, but he was in jail a lot and deported back to Italy a long time ago).....

Not sure what you mean by "prominant" but without any question, in my book, Lucky Luciano would undeniably be one of the most prominant mafia bosses, as he organized the commission and the modern-day structure of the mafia, he ws from sicily and even helped organize the end of WWII as he got the cooperation from sicily to invade and stop the germans, so he was, on all levels, someone who ruled internationally one way or the other. When I was in Sicily I asked if they knew who Gotti was, they all looked at me and nodded no, gotti was much hype from the NY Press, he was flamboyant, but that is also what lead to his demise by the FBI. Colorful, powerful, yes, but he pales in comparison to most others like Capone, Gambino, Columbo, etc etc.

i would say Gambino and Luciano

i read on how Luciano disposed of Messeria and Maranzano that was jus genius

I have to agree. Luciano is by far one of the most influential and important people at least in the American Mafia.