Family History Library Italian collections

The Family History Library has over 64,000 microfilms of original, handwritten documents from Italy. With as many as 20 active LDS microfilming projects in the country, significant additions to these collections come on a monthly basis. You should regularly search the Family History Library Catalog, by a specific locality, to update the following list. Unfortunately, the FHLC does not mark new acquisitions; microfilm numbers above 2,000,000 indicate microfilms cataloged since this highlight chart was created. The FHLC is frequently updated on FamilySearch.org. We encourage researchers who spot new microfilms to add them directly to the WeRelate Source Directory. Jayare would also appreciate being notified of any new additions at Jayare.

Civil records typically start between 1809 and 1813 in the Napoleonic era, notably in southern Italy; some date from 1799 while other collections only begin in 1860s with the unification of Italy. Church records may be discovered as early as the 1390s in Palermo and 1450 in Firenze. Mixed record-keeping customs account for records such as the transcripts of Trento church manuscripts dating from the late 1700s. In a region such as Toscana you may search 3,215 microfilms dating from 1750 to 1865. Sources cataloged for the entire country include: archival guides, compiled biographies, emigration studies, gazetteers, heraldic and nobility guides, general histories, maps, and travel guides.

Since most of our Italian ancestors remained in their homeland until 1880 or later, however, you may need to discover one or two generations in your own family records or in U.S. sources to bridge the gap to 1865 in some provinces.

Different contracts with various archives have led to inconsistencies in time periods covered, as seen below:

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS (* indicates the relative size of the collection)

probate, notarial, tax records

Bergamo, 1450s-1720s

Bolzano, varies

Torino, varies

Protestant records

Bolzano to 1940s, 1980s******

Milano to 1866

Padova to 1866

Udine to 1942

Venezia to 1876

Roman Catholic records

Firenze to 1900

Messina to 1970

Parma to 1972***

Perugia to 1862*

Piacenza to 1950s

Torino to 1899*****

Trento to 1923*****

Verona to 1840*

Census records

Messina, 1681-1757

Modena, 1740-1824

Toscana, 1841

Verona, 1421-1789

Civil records to 1814, 1865, or 1894

Reggio Emilia*

Civil registration primarily to 1813 or 1815

Imperia Mantova*

Padova

Pesaro*

Civil registration primarily to 1815 or 1871

Verona***

Civil registration primarily to 1860 or 1865

Agrigento**

Benevento*

Catania*****

Catanzaro

Civil registration to 1861 or as late as 1895

Palermo****

Civil registration primarily to 1865

Avellino**

Bari**

Caltanisetta

Cosenza****

Enna

Foggia**

Frosinone**

L'Aquila**********

Latina

Lecce**

Napoli*

Pescara**

Reggio Calabria***

Rieti*****

Toscana region****

Civil registration to 1865, 1899, or 1910

Messina*****

Teramo****

Vicenza*******

Civil registration to 1865 or as late as 1900

Campbobasso***

Caserta***

Chieti****

Ragusa

Civil registration primarily to 1887

Brindisi

Civil registration to 1900 or 1903

Modena*

Parma****

Pistoia*

Siracusa*

Trapani*

Civil registration to 1910 or 1915

Cagliari

Nuoro

Oristano*

Sassari*

Civil registration to 1915 or 1920

Asti

Massa Carrara

Vercelli***

Civil registration to about 1925

Matera*

Novara**

Piacenza*