Antonino Calderone (24 October 1935 – 10 January 2013) was a Sicilian Mafioso who turned state witness (pentito) in 1987 after his arrest in 1986.

Antonino's memoirs, Men of Dishonor: Inside the Sicilian Mafia, were published in 1992 with Antimafia sociologist Pino Arlacchi and are considered a handbook for understanding Cosa Nostra and the life of a mafioso.

Another uncle had helped the Mafia get back on its feet after World War II, organizing the black market in contraband cigarettes.

On 8 September 1978, his brother and boss of the Catania Mafia, Giuseppe Calderone, was killed by his former close friend and protégé Nitto Santapaola.

While previous pentiti had all been from Palermo, Calderone described the grip of Cosa Nostra in Catania, the main city and industrial centre on Sicily's east coast.

He testified about the relationship between the Mafia and the four Cavalieri del Lavoro (Knights of Labour)[4] of Catania: the construction entrepreneurs Carmelo Costanzo, Francesco Finocchiaro, Mario Rendo and Gaetano Graci – who needed the mafiosi for protection.

[5] Calderone also talked about the links of Cosa Nostra with law enforcement, freemasonry, judges and politicians in Catania and the Italian government.

When they needed a false passport they turned to ‘their’ member of parliament in Rome, Giuseppe Lupis of the small Democratic Socialist Party.

In 1992 he published a book with Antimafia sociologist Pino Arlacchi about his life in Cosa Nostra, which was translated into many languages.

After the murder of Giovanni Falcone, Calderone gave a little-noticed but accurate analysis of the attack: "Such a spectacular public bombing is never in the interest of the Mafia … it is a sign of weakness."

"[9] On 10 January 2013, at the age of 78, Calderone died at a secret location "overseas," according to police chief Antonio Manganelli.

Next to Tommaso Buscetta, Salvatore Contorno, Francesco Marino Mannoia and Gaspare Mutolo, Calderone helped Palermo magistrates like Giovanni Falcone to get a picture of the inner workings of the Mafia and its relationships with entrepreneurs and politicians in Sicily.