alive or dead

[EllenCatusco]

Is it possible that a di on a certificate could be a mistake? Im wondering if a relative was really alive in a cert. but it does say di and not fu

[bbivona]

I'm not entirely sure I follow your question, and a little more context might help, but di (of) typically just indicates who the parents are. "Fu" or "furono" indicates that the parent or parents are deceased. If a certificate of some sort says, for example, Giovanni Bivona di Gioachino, it just means that he is Giovanni's son. If it says Giovanni Bivona di fu Gioachino or Giovanni Bivona del fu Gioachino, it means that Giovanni is the son of Gioachino who is deceased. If there is "fu" or "furono" before the name(s), you can be sure that they are dead, but if there is no "fu" or "furono" before a name, they are often living, but you can't be sure. I hope I'm understanding your question.

[erudita74]

Some records use "di" but also the word "defunto" or "defunta," as in the following record on the right for Giuseppe di Stefano. In this record, you see that the deceased was the "figlio di Mariano defunto e di Maria Santangela defunta"

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

Ellen,
It would be better though if you could post a link to the record.

Erudita

[EllenCatusco]

Ellen,
It would be better though if you could post a link to the record.

Erudita


this is the file. I know his parents are dead aready. So my question was can I trust when its says " di " . And I guess the answer is no..LOL

[bbivona]

Ellen

You can trust the "di" in that all it means is that he was the son of those two persons. The fact that they may be dead doesn't make "di" inaccurate. That said, generally they will also add "fu", "furono", or "defunto", to indicate that they are deceased, but they don't always. Another spot you see an indication of whether they are living sometimes is where it indicates their residence, it sometimes will say "in vita" meaning that it was their residence when they were alive.

[EllenCatusco]

Ahhh thats good to know. I have seen the in vita before. Thank you