Basic Italian Records

NOTE: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. 

The book, “Finding Your Italian Ancestors – A Beginner’s Guide” by Suzanne Russo Adams, AG is available at GenealogyStore.com

Optional Course Print Material: Italian: Introduction to Research Outside of Italy

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

So you want to research your Italian ancestors! Welcome to a fascinating type of genealogical research. Italians have contributed to all aspects of life in the countries they immigrated to. Our Italian ancestors often came poor and destitute, seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Hard work and placing great value on family helped them to excel within their new countries, providing not only a better life for themselves but also for their descendants.

This course will provide you with a solid foundation on which to begin your research. We will discuss, amongst other things: what resources, mainly U.S. and Canadian, can help you begin your research; what Italian records are available and the historical considerations in their creation; where and how these records can be accessed; record collections available on microfilm or digitally and how to use them; language resources; tips that will help you as your research progresses; ordering documents from Italy.

NOTE: This course is a prerequisite to all other Italian courses except for the Research: Italian Ancestors course. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

NOTE: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered.

The Book, “Finding Your Italian Ancestors – A Beginner’s Guide”by Suzanne Russo Adams, AG is available at GenealogyStore.com

Optional Print Course Material: Italian: Language and Location

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Understanding, or being able to decipher, the languages found with Italian genealogical documents is an essential skill needed to effectively research your Italian ancestors. While most records are in Italian, you will find other languages within the records depending on the history of the town or region you are researching. Emphasis is placed on reading the handwriting and how to translate and understand basic Italian records.

While topics discussed in this course will give you a solid understanding of the basics needed to understand Italian genealogical records, we cannot cover everything in the space allotted for this course. After the course ends, you will need to take time to study the language, the handwriting, as well as the cultural context of the records, in order to fully understand what the records your ancestors left behind truly reveal.

Locating places within Italy can be confusing until you understand the political and ecclesiastical jurisdictions. We will review these jurisdictions and look at a variety of ways that will help you narrow your search for your ancestor’s town of origin. If you already know the town of origin, this section may help as your research expands as the research often leads into nearby towns, due to the practice of marrying outside a town’s populace. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

NOTE: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. 

The Book, “Finding Your Italian Ancestors – A Beginner’s Guide” by Suzanne Russo Adams, AG is available at GenealogyStore.com

Optional Print Course Material: Italian: Civil Registration Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Civil registration is one of the largest and most important record sets in Italian genealogical research. It is certainly the most accessible, due to the efforts of FamilySearch, and now the main Italian archive, in microfilming or digitizing these records. 

In this course, we will delve deeper into three main types of records: birth records [both regular and supplemental], marriage records [including marriage banns and marriage supplements], and death records [both regular and supplemental]. Each type of record has different challenges as well as differences in format depending on the time period and/or location of its creation within Italy. 

We will also delve more deeply into translating and abstracting these documents so that you can understand more fully how to find every piece of genealogically useful information they contain. You will learn how to spot discrepancies and information contained that is over and above what is generally given. Understanding the documents is the heart of the course and there will be much study required of the example documents. 

You should have completed the Italian: Introduction to Research Outside of Italy and Italian: Language and Location courses, or have a good understanding of the content of those courses, before commencing this course.

Course Length: 7 weeks

NOTE: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. 

The Book, “Finding Your Italian Ancestors – A Beginner’s Guide” by Suzanne Russo Adams, AG is available at GenealogyStore.com

Optional Print Course Material: Italian: Civil Registration Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Civil registration is one of the largest and most important record sets in Italian genealogical research. It is certainly the most accessible, due to the efforts of FamilySearch (and now the main Italian archive) to microfilm and digitize these records. However, civil registration is more than just birth, death, and marriage records. In this course, we will delve into some of the more unusual civil records. We’ll not only learn what they are but also how to use these records. These records can be used to “flesh out” the history of your ancestors, providing unique details that may help you understand the ancestors in their social and political context.

We’ll also delve more deeply into the Italian resources available through FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and Portale Antenati, the Italian government’s website. Collections available at Italian Archivi di Stato will be explored. Students will learn what types of documents these archives contain and how best to access them. 

Course Length: 6 weeks