Having problems with the Italian language? Do you need help to translate or understand an old family document? There is always someone who can help you!
Hello, I was hoping someone could help me with this death certificate I pulled off Ancestry. Does it list a cause of death? I'm assuming that it lists the date of both birth and death but it's not numeric. Why is Andrea listed? It could be brother or grandfather. From what I can tell Leonardo was unmarried and without children? I can see where his parents are listed, Giuseppe Rocco and Vita Crescenzia. Does it note if they are still living at the time of Leonardo's death?
Thanks in advance
In addition to what Jim has translated:
I think mother's last name is Pace. She and the father are not deceased or it would be noted. Andrea and Vito were the persons who declared the death at the town hall. Death occurred at noon on the 20th of July 1916. It was declared at 10 AM on the 21st of July.
Birthdates are not usually given on the death record, but age is.
I have never seen cause of death given. (that is not to say it hasn't been done )
Just for your info-
In 1816, when the northeast section of Italy became part of the Austrian empire, the civil vital records from that area became the responsibility of the parish priests. Those "parish civil death records" DID have a cause of death I have never seen any of those types of records, but I believe those are the only ones which gave a cause of death. Normally Italian civil death records do not.
So there is a chance that it may be recorded somewhere. Where there any diseases rampant in southern Italy in 1916? It is possible that he was sickly for a while with some sort of complication, his brother was already married and having children at a very young age.
FYI I did ask what happened to Leonardo in a letter to relatives in Avigliano and I got no response to the question so either they don't know or don't want to share. They seem to be very selective about what they reveal.
A long shot: I have seen the cause of death recorded occasionally in the Stato della Famiglia ledger, where there is a column for "Causa". I've only looked at a few records for one comune - and this in the north - so I'm not sure how common it is to find the cause there. You could try writing to the comune and asking for the page with Leonardo on it.
I don't believe that, as a rule, the Stato di Famiglia record has causes of death. There may be an annotation concerning the death date(s) of one or more of the family members listed, but as a rule, the cause of death is not one of the categories on this record. Normally this record has the full name of the head of the household, the names of all living members in the same household, the relationship of each member to the family, places and dates of birth, marital status, and sometimes the occupation of the head of the household or his wife.There may also be annotations such as death dates or migration dates. The town to which Jerry refers is in northern Italy. Avigliano is a southern Italian town, so I don't believe a status of the family document from this town will yield you a cause of death.
Interesting that maybe the Stato ledger is not uniform across Italy. In the northern town of Garzeno, the Stato ledger includes a section for "Traslocazioni e Deccessi", including a column for "Causa", though it wasn't always filled in. Sounds like there might not be this section of the Stato in the south. That's a shame. Cause of death info can be very revealing, but it's rare to find anything in the Italian records, it seems.
Off the top of my head, the stato for Avigliano was more "writing in the margins" than anything. Now, I can't say if there were seperate statos and maybe the one I have just had extra information, but Leonardo's brother was also listed on the stato with his family in Filiano, so who knows.
What I do know is that Leonardo had many sisters, and whoever copied the stato for me in Avigliano intentionally cut off all of their spouses. That killed me. Haha.
I just found a mention online of a syndrome called Pellagra, which results from growing corn in improperly treated soil. 100k were effected in Southern Italy in 1916. Could be a possiblity.
Basically when records do not give causes of death, the next best thing we can do is to look at the causes of death among the general population at the time. The information you found could be a real possibility.
I have two statos, one is a typed/computer generated one, and the other is a copy right from the handwritten docket book. Neither seems to leave room for a cause of death.
There has been a strong custom in Italy that determines how children are named: The first male is named after his paternal grandfather.The second male is named after his maternal grandfather.The first female is named after her paternal grandmother.The second female is named after her maternal grandm...