Latin names- BEWARE!

I have recently seen some one's family history record who had names written down on their family tree such as "Antoniam," "Dominicus," & "Josephi." This makes me cringe! They had taken these names straight from the latin record and left them in their declined state, which is incorrect. Why? you may ask; I will tell you.

I am currently taking a Latin class and BYU. We have learned some good principles about nouns that everyone who reads latin records should be aware of. Nouns, in Latin, are declined according to the position they take in the sentence. For each position; subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.., there is an ending attached to the noun.

For example if our friend named Joseph took the position as the subject of the sentence we would add "-us" to the end of his name, making him "Josephus". If he was the direct object an "-um" would be tacked on and his name would appear as "Josephum." If we said of or from Joseph we would write his name as "Josephi." If we used his name as and indirect object we would write, "Josepho." Yet his real name, the one that should be on the PAF, is Joseph, or in Italian= Giuseppe, or in Spanish =Jose.

I hope this clarifies this for those who research in latin records.

conference

I was reading and found out about a celebration where they will be speaking somewhat about Italian Genealogy.

Italian heritage program to be held Oct. 12
The Ann Bambino Lodge #2353, Order Sons of Italy in America will present its annual Celebration of Italian Heritage and Culture program on Friday, October 12, 7 p.m. The guest speaker is Leo Cimini, the OSIA's Literary Award chairman, and his subject will be Italian American Writers and Genealogy. The program will be held at the Massapequa Park Village Hall, 151 Front St., Massapequa Park in the downstairs meeting room. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion. Admission is free and all are welcome. Find out more: http://www.massapequapost.com/news/2007/1003/events_&_calendar/008.html

Lucca Italy's Archives

Lucca Italy holds three main archives. The following is the information about these archives.

Lucca Dioceses Archive info:
Open M,T,W,F; from 9:30-12:30
Phone: 0583.430854
Email: archivio@diocesilucca.it
Archivist: Signora Elisa

Lucca Notarial Archive info:
Open 8:30-12:30 M-F and Mondays and Wednesdays also in the afternoon from 2:30-4:30. Located in the center of the town.

Lucca Achivio di Stato info:
Open 9:00-13:00 M-F
Phone: 0571-757858
e-mail: archivio.storico@comune.empoli.fi.it
Director: Giorgio Tori
Archivist: Sergio Nelli
Talk to Rita Giusti for microfilms.

Welcome

This is a new blog dedicated to genealogy and family history in Italy. Soon to come is information about the search. Get ready to have fun.