Searching for Italian ancestors after 1910

[bnbnm]

Does anyone have any suggestions for researching Italian ancestors after 1910? I have used Family Search's resources very successfully - both with the available online records and the films that can be ordered - however the records seem to end in 1910. I have also used Portale della Stori degli Italia with great results. But again, records seem to end in the early 1900s. I have Googled myself crazy trying to find other search options for more recent results. My family originates from Altomonte, Torano Castello, and Mangone which are in Cosenza, Calabria and I am now at a point that I need to move beyond 1910 to find marriages, deaths, and children. I can use Ancestry.com at one of the Family History Centers if that is an option but I am hoping for other search options that I can use from home. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[adelfio]

You will probally have to start writing or emailing the towns for that info or find a relative who might have info in those towns by using the Italian phone book and writing for family info
PG LINK
http://www.paginebianche.it/
Marty

[TerraLavoro]

My Dad was born in 1919, and is still very much alive and kicking, which is a roundabout way of saying that for most records post 1910 one begins to run into privacy laws with respect to living persons.

Jurisdictions vary on these rules,(and some exceptions do come immediately to mind) but my hunch is that for 20th century records, you would have to both 1. make a request directly to the appropriate comune, and 2. show that you are an "interested party" and that no "privacy" is being violated,

[erudita74]

Italy is regulated by the privacy law (Law no. 675/1996 implementing EU Directive 95/46 on Personal Data Protection) which limits the disclosure of sensitive information; information on living people is considered sensitive and thus unavailable to third parties without the person’s written authorization. You would also need a photo ID in addition to the individual's authorization letter.

http://www.privacy.it/legge675encoord.html

Erudita

[bnbnm]

Thank you all for the quick responses! I was afraid I going to have to deal with the privacy laws. I know there are a number of family members still living in Italy, however the relatives in the US that would be able to give me contact information are, unfortunately, nonexistent having passed away years ago. My own surname "Pappaianni" has netted no hits in the 3 towns I mentioned (I used the Pagine Bianche search) undoubtedly because the family members that remained in Italy were women and when they married, name changes happened which makes the search that much more difficult. One of the marriages was to a "Ferraro" and there are virtually thousands of "Ferraro's" to try and sift through! Seems like "Smith" or "Jones" here in the US I will look in to the suggestions of contacting the Comunes and see what I can accomplish there. Thank you all again for the help!!

[TerraLavoro]

Don't assume that "name changes happened" to women's names as a result of marriage. Most women in Italy retain their birth names throughout their life......married or not. Good luck in your hunting!

[Anizio]

My Dad was born in 1919, and is still very much alive and kicking, which is a roundabout way of saying that for most records post 1910 one begins to run into privacy laws with respect to living persons.

Jurisdictions vary on these rules,(and some exceptions do come immediately to mind) but my hunch is that for 20th century records, you would have to both 1. make a request directly to the appropriate comune, and 2. show that you are an "interested party" and that no "privacy" is being violated,

I am not sure to what extend living person's information cannot be given out; specifically because I'm not sure if they would know whether someone born in 1919 is alive or dead.

But I do know that the general rule is you cannot request records for someone that is within 70 years, so right now after 1944, unless you have their consent or you are a direct family member.

[TerraLavoro]

Anizio, I think you answered your own question.

[jennabet]

Here's an example, based on my own experience of how privacy laws apply to living persons in Italy. After I was recognized as an Italian citizen by my grand-father's commune in Abruzzo, I moved permanently to Abruzzo, where I met one of my father's first cousins. Even though he looked remarkably like my father, I could not figure out, based on the story he was telling and the sur name he was using, who his father was. So I went back to the commune (in person) and asked for the birth information for this cousin. They didn't offer to give it to me on the spot but they were extremely polite and said, yes, they would send me the info by mail at my home address in another commune in Abruzzo. However, I never received anything and never heard another word about it. This was 14 years ago and I still don't know who this cousin's father is. Interestingly enough, when I went in person years earlier to the same commune and asked for a copy of my deceased grand-father's birth certificate, they looked in their books, found the record, and typed up a special certificate and I walked out with it.

[erudita74]

What's interesting though is that the privacy laws apply only to civil records and not to church records. So maybe church records are the way to go for more recent years.
Erudita

[liviomoreno]

In Italy, you may request a birth certificate for anybody, provided you know his/her birth date. To have a copy of the birth act (estratto per copia integrale) the birth date must be more than 70 years ago.

[TerraLavoro]

In Italy, you may request a birth certificate for anybody, provided you know his/her birth date. To have a copy of the birth act (estratto per copia integrale) the birth date must be more than 70 years ago.

Thank you Livio. Do you know if the same standard (70 years) also applies to marriage records i.e. estratti and copia integrale?

[liviomoreno]

The same standard apply for all civil state records: birth, death and marriages.

[liviomoreno]

The law states that 70 years are counted from the completion of the record. Some officials interpret the completion as the registration date, other believe that the record is completed when the last annotation is made.
In this case if the birth date is 1910 and there is an annotation saying that the individual died in 1990, the official will not deliver the "Copia integrale" until 2060!

[TerraLavoro]

Thank you, good to know.

So then, this law is flouted each time we see a death annotation on an LDS microfilm version of a birth record and the date of death in the marginal note is less than 70 years ago.

I have seen this happen, as a few comuni have had their own copy of the birth, marriage and death acts filmed by the LDS, rather than copies contained in the archivio dello stato.