Request for Italian Translation

Question

I have uploaded a photo of a birth record I got today.

I am having a very hard time making out the mother's name and the last handwritten portion of the middle section.  It would be a great help if an Italian could read and translate it for me. I am onsite for the next week,  trying to discover how this person is related to me.

Answer 1

Hi Lance,

I believe in this record the wife’s surname is listed first. It almost looks like ‘Gen’ Maria di Andrea, but if I check the most common surnames in Villa di Chiavenna, the surname ‘Gini’ appears which is also a good possibility.

http://www.paginebianche.it/lombardia/villa-di-chiavenna.htm

So Maria Gini/Gen is the daughter of Andrea. The ‘di’ indicates that her father Andrea is still living. At least this is my interpretation …  Good luck with your trip!

Answer 2

You may want to consider using Google Translate.  Here are a few phrases I entered and the results:

L'anno mille ottocento ottantaquattro = The year one thousand eight hundred eighty-four, or 1884

e nato un bambino di sesso masculine = and he born a masculine child sex, or the baby’s sex is male

A quanto sopra e a questo atto sono stati presenti quali testimony - To the above, and in this act were present as witnesses

Comments

like I said, it is the handwritten part at the end of the middle section that is hard to read for me, and may not be if you are familiar with Italian --  I think it may say wife Maria of Andrea but I am not sure.

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I grew up in Italy and perhaps can help to decipher the record. Where is the Original to be seen?

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Thanks Albertus. I will save you for another, I am sure I have others I will need help with.  This one has been translated completely

Answer 3

The mother is Maria DiAndrea who was a contadina, her and her husband (contadino) were farmers.

 

( shameless plug for all of Italian descent to join the Italian Roots project!)

Comments

Thank you. Why would her surname be listed second and everyone elses surnames on the other sheets be listed first?  Is there no standard?

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Probably no standard at all.  I've spent the better part of the last 3 moths digging through Italian archives. I've seen it both ways.

Answer 4

Hi!

You can confirm their names as Faustino Maraffio and Maria Gini at their marriage certificate, Nr. 7 on the link bellow:

"Italia, Sondrio, Sondrio, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1866-1929," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-33133-11012-82?cc=2043841 : accessed 14 June 2016), Sondrio > Villa di Chiavenna > Nati 1866-1910 Pubblicazioni 1871-1910 Matrimoni 1866-1910 > image 1186 of 1401; Tribunale di Sondrio (Sondrio Court, Sondrio).

Answer 5

I read records like these every day. 

The man reporting the birth is Serofino Sindaro Maraffio, and  the date, listed first, is January 17, 1884. at  2pm. Then they list the civil officier and his credentials. 

Then it lists  the the location, the town and the street. The family lived on Via Scattoni, or Scattoni street.at number 29.

This  child is born to "his wife, Gin, Maria," The "di Andrea" means that Andrea is her father. Contadina is her profession and it is something like milk maid or dairy farmer. She probably milked the goats and perhaps cows if they had them. The land is hilly is some of these towns, so perhaps it is just goats.

A baby boy (bambino masculino) was born to this couple at 6:23 am on the sixteenth day of the current month, (actual birth on January 16, 1884)  and his name is  Andrea Luigi (Maraffio).

Likely, but not always, he was a second son. The first son is usually named after the father's father, but this one is clearly named after the mother's father, Andrea Gin.

 

I hope this helps!

Sharon Troy Centanne

Italian Researcher

 

Comments

Thanks Sharon. That was a very good translation. I knew addresses were there, it is going to be very hard to pick them out on my family. Handwriting is very hard for a foreigner to read.

One question, is contadina specifically someone who deals with livestock, or do they also harvest fruits and vegetables.  You are the first Italian to have mentioned livestock specifically. My great grandfather came over to the states and was a dairy farmer here. It would be interesting to know if his family was as well.