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'Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone' (1928–1949) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel ''The Godfather''. She is portrayed by Simonetta Stefanelli in the film.
Shortly after Michael Corleone arrives in Sicily following his escape from New York, Apollonia encounters Michael and, after a brief courtship, they are married. After several months, Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. The attack was set up by Michael's trusted bodyguard, Fabrizio. In the book, she is pregnant at the time of her death. The explosion caused by the car bomb was powerful enough to throw Michael off his feet, and in the novel, he went into a state of unconsciousness for about a week.
After Apollonia's death, Michael returned to the United States and married Kay Adams though she is unaware that he had been married, then made a widower, while he was living in Sicily.
In the novel, Michael avenges the death of Apollonia. Fabrizio is found running a pizza parlor in Buffalo, New York. He is shot in the chest by an assassin who walks into the pizza parlor. The assassin then tells him "Michael Corleone sends his regards", before shooting him again in the head. In a deleted scene from the film, Michael kills Fabrizio with a shotgun. This scene has never been released though publicity photos of Al Pacino firing a shotgun were distributed.[1] In a deleted scene from ''The Godfather Part II'', Fabrizio is killed in front of his parlor with a bomb wired to the ignition of his car. This scene can be seen in the film's DVD release and in ''The Godfather Saga''.