‘Birth Certificates’ – NOT!!
By Angelo Coniglio
I have written about this subject before, but as more and more descendants of Sicilian and Italian immigrants strive to identify their roots, I see increasing requests for their ancestors’ “birth certificates”. And I can’t say it often enough or clearly enough: in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, Sicilian and Italian families did not receive birth certificates when their children were born!
On the day of a child’s birth, or a day or two later, the child’s father (‘il dichiarante’, the declarant or informant) or his representative physically carried the newborn to the ‘Casa Comunale’, the Town Hall, and presented it to a village official who was authorized to act as the ‘Uffiziale dello Stato Civile’ (Official of the Civil Status) of the town. This official might be the ‘Sindaco’ (mayor), ‘Assessore’ (Councilman), ‘Segratario Comunale’ (Town Secretary) or another elected or appointed official. That official took the informant’s declaration before two ‘testimonii’ (witnesses) and had it recorded by a clerk in two large registers of ‘Atti di Nascite’ (Records of Birth). Of these identical registers, one was kept (to this day) in the ‘Anagrafe’ or town Registry Office, and one was sent to the ‘Tribunale’, the Magistrate of the Province in which the town is located. This second copy was then filed permanently in the Provincial Archives.
Years later, if the child or his family needed proof of his birth (say for a marriage) they would go to the Town Hall and ask for the information. The clerk would look up the Birth Record and copy key information from it onto an ‘Estratto Certificato dello Atto di Nascita’: a Certified Extract of the Record of Birth. When uninformed descendants ask for a ‘birth certificate’, often this extract is what they receive. Translated, an example reads thusly:
Certified Extract of the Record of Birth
From the 1873 Register of Births, Part 1, Record 195
Surname: Aquilina Given Name: Gaetano
Date of Birth: 23 August 1873
Father: Calogero Aquilina
Mother: Concetta Lombardo
Issued this day, 1 April 1897 in Serradifalco
by Luigi Antonio Saito, Town Secretary, Official of the Civil Status
Now, here’s a complete translation of the actual Atto di Nascita:
Record 195
Gaetano Aquilina
Year 1873, day 23 of the month of August at hour 15:00 Italian Time in the Town Hall. Before me, Antonio Prizzi, Secretary of the Town of Serradifalco, Environs and Province of Caltanissetta, delegated to fulfill the function of Official of the Civil Status for the records of birth and of death by the Mayor of this Town, by act of 18 March of this year; has appeared Calogero Aquilina (son of the late Pasquale), age forty-six years, occupation sulfur miner, domiciled in Serradifalco, who has presented to me an infant of masculine sex who he declared was born at hour 17:00 Italian Time yesterday, of his wife Concetta Lombardo, daughter of the living Giuseppe, according to the declarant domiciled in their home located in this Town of Serradifalco at Via Crucillà number 9, to which son he gave the name of Gaetano.
On the day of a child’s birth, or a day or two later, the child’s father (‘il dichiarante’, the declarant or informant) or his representative physically carried the newborn to the ‘Casa Comunale’, the Town Hall, and presented it to a village official who was authorized to act as the ‘Uffiziale dello Stato Civile’ (Official of the Civil Status) of the town. This official might be the ‘Sindaco’ (mayor), ‘Assessore’ (Councilman), ‘Segratario Comunale’ (Town Secretary) or another elected or appointed official. That official took the informant’s declaration before two ‘testimonii’ (witnesses) and had it recorded by a clerk in two large registers of ‘Atti di Nascite’ (Records of Birth). Of these identical registers, one was kept (to this day) in the ‘Anagrafe’ or town Registry Office, and one was sent to the ‘Tribunale’, the Magistrate of the Province in which the town is located. This second copy was then filed permanently in the Provincial Archives.
Years later, if the child or his family needed proof of his birth (say for a marriage) they would go to the Town Hall and ask for the information. The clerk would look up the Birth Record and copy key information from it onto an ‘Estratto Certificato dello Atto di Nascita’: a Certified Extract of the Record of Birth. When uninformed descendants ask for a ‘birth certificate’, often this extract is what they receive. Translated, an example reads thusly:
Certified Extract of the Record of Birth
From the 1873 Register of Births, Part 1, Record 195
Surname: Aquilina Given Name: Gaetano
Date of Birth: 23 August 1873
Father: Calogero Aquilina
Mother: Concetta Lombardo
Issued this day, 1 April 1897 in Serradifalco
by Luigi Antonio Saito, Town Secretary, Official of the Civil Status
Now, here’s a complete translation of the actual Atto di Nascita:
Record 195
Gaetano Aquilina
Year 1873, day 23 of the month of August at hour 15:00 Italian Time in the Town Hall. Before me, Antonio Prizzi, Secretary of the Town of Serradifalco, Environs and Province of Caltanissetta, delegated to fulfill the function of Official of the Civil Status for the records of birth and of death by the Mayor of this Town, by act of 18 March of this year; has appeared Calogero Aquilina (son of the late Pasquale), age forty-six years, occupation sulfur miner, domiciled in Serradifalco, who has presented to me an infant of masculine sex who he declared was born at hour 17:00 Italian Time yesterday, of his wife Concetta Lombardo, daughter of the living Giuseppe, according to the declarant domiciled in their home located in this Town of Serradifalco at Via Crucillà number 9, to which son he gave the name of Gaetano.
This declaration was made in the presence of Sebastiano Valenti (son of the late Vincenzo), age 28 years, and of Calogero Diforti (son of the late Moise) age 30 years; both sulfur miners residing in this Town, witnesses chosen by the declarant, and after having been read this record, inscribed on two original registers, it is signed only by me, the declarant and the witnesses having said that they don't know how to write.
[signed] Antonio Prizzi
Note that the extract not only leaves out many important details, it gives the wrong date of birth! The birth was reported on 23 August 1873, but the record itself states that the birth was ‘yesterday’, or 22 August 1873’. The clerk who filled out the extract made a common mistake and assumed the birth date was the same as the record date. The extract is a secondary record, the Atto di Nascita is a primary record and gives the correct date. The moral: don’t settle for an extract!
[signed] Antonio Prizzi
Note that the extract not only leaves out many important details, it gives the wrong date of birth! The birth was reported on 23 August 1873, but the record itself states that the birth was ‘yesterday’, or 22 August 1873’. The clerk who filled out the extract made a common mistake and assumed the birth date was the same as the record date. The extract is a secondary record, the Atto di Nascita is a primary record and gives the correct date. The moral: don’t settle for an extract!
Coniglio is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel, inspired by his Sicilian research. Order the paperback or the Kindle version at http://bit.ly/SicilianStory Coniglio’s web page at http://bit.ly/AFCGen has helpful hints on genealogic research. If you have genealogy questions, or would like him to lecture to your club or group, e-mail him at genealogytips@aol.com