Italian Genealogy Records at a Glance

Civil registers of birth, marriage and death

• begin in 1809 or 1866 for most of Italy
• start in 1820 in Sicily

The Family History Library (FHL) has microfilmed civil registers up to 1866 for much of central and southern Italy and some of northern Italy. In some cases, FHL film goes up to 1910. Some of these Italian civil registration records are digitized on the free FamilySearch.org website, where for the most part, you’ll need to browse unindexed records. The original records are kept at local registrars’ offices in each town or city.

Church records

• baptism records begin about 1500
• marriage and death records begin about 1520

Military records

• begin in 1792 for enlisted men
• conscription of all males began in 1865

A version of this article appeared in the July 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine.

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