Italian Newspapers Archived Online

[mdyer]

My 3rd and 4th great-grandfathers died within a week of each other in April 1864 in Boiano. I'm interested in trying to learn more about the causes of their deaths, and was wondering if there may be local newspaper accounts (since the death records don't provide cause of death). Is anyone aware of Italian newspapers being archived online?

[Italysearcher]

Parish records sometimes say if the deaths were unusual or due to epidemic. I don't know of any newspaper archives and doubt they would eport something of this nature.

[mdyer]

Thanks for the response. My thinking was that if there was an accident or some other unusual event that resulted in (at least) a couple fatalities that it might have made the news.

[Italysearcher]

There weren't a lot of newspapers around in 1864 and even today there are still people alive who did not go to school beyond Grade 3. Not too many literate people around in 1864 to support a newspaper and the death of a couple of 'contadini'(I'm assuming) wouldn't likely be news.

[joetucciarone]

I thought I’d revive this eight-year-old post because digitized copies of many 19th and 20th century Italian newspapers can now be viewed online. Here are URLs for some of the collections:

http://digitale.bnc.roma.sbn.it/tecadig ... ca/classic
http://www.internetculturale.it/it/913/ ... e-italiana
http://panizzi.comune.re.it/Sezione.jsp?idSezione=477
http://emeroteca.braidense.it/indice_testate.php

Florida State University library hosts high-resolution scans of Milan’s Il Secolo newspaper:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... u%3A156155

1873 copies of Savona’s newspaper, Il Commercio Savonese, can be accessed here:

http://bibliotecadigitale.regione.ligur ... CFI0402397

And finally, Rome’s Gazzetta Ufficiale newspaper are located here:

https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/ricerc ... reset=true

I’ve read dozens of newspapers from these collections, dating from the 1860s through the 1890s. This thread was originally started by a member hoping to find the 1864 obituaries of his/her ancestors. Unfortunately, very few deaths of anyone other than prominent local or national figures were reported. As Italysearcher said, many Italians of this era were illiterate, so the newspapers catered to those who could read. As with contemporary U.S. papers, these journals mainly focused on national and international politics and news. But as first-hand reports for these historical events, they are priceless resources. In addition, these papers feature fascinating advertisements for vintage products ranging from industrial machinery to household drugs.

[mler]

This was about the time of the cholera epidemic in Italy—a possibility.