Gina501 wrote:Ok, so now that we found a possible date of birth, how do I go about writing to Pavia and Piacenza for birth records. I do not speak Italian and I am assuming the letter must be in Italian. Do I have to send money? Does anyone know how I go about this?
You can write to the comune and ask about his birth record. But you can also rent--at the Family History Library--the birth records for the town for the year in question. Have you ever used the Family History Library? Located usually near a Mormon church, you can check out the libraries at www.familysearch.org Click on the right column and see what library branch might be near your home.
The rental of films is around $5.50. The films remain in the branch for a month and you can renew them. These are the civil records of the town...birth, death, marriage records. They are in Italian, but can be read with a translation dictionary. They will take about 3 weeks to get to your branch from the main depository in Utah. It is the best way to get a lot of info about an individual and his family. In your case, this may not work because of the fact he was adopted. But his birth record should be there if he was indeed born in that city.
All records are in the city of birth. You don't write to the Province but to the comune...so start with Pavia. Here is a link to help with letters in Italian: http://www.anzwers.org/free/italiangen/ ... tters.html
It also has additional info about the records. You will write to what we would call the town clerk's office....the official in charge of records:
Ufficio di Stato Civile
Comune di Pavia(PC)
27100 Pavia
Italia
List the name both ways, first-last, last-first since this is an issue. And give the date of birth you have...indicate he is adopted. And then see what they find.
Good Luck
