Family history is never truly a distant past — it is always a recent past, closely tied to the present and very often to the future. That’s why many Italian emigrants may know they are of Italian descent from their surname, yet remain unaware of their true origins — the exact town or village their ancestors came from. In the United States, they often refer to themselves simply as Paisans.
Nostalgia is an ancient feeling — a universal language that nurtures culture, literature, the warmth of memory and knowledge, and the hope of a journey in search of one’s roots.
Tracing one’s origins is not easy. It’s a complex path that leads through ancient municipal state archives (where available), as well as diocesan and parish archives, often handwritten in Latin, where records of baptisms and other vital events were kept — sometimes even in private collections. Ultimately, it is about reconstructing the family tree of the person requesting the service, and uncovering their family history in Italy.
And since human life is finite, reconnecting with the present means digging into the roots of one’s family and social past — in the very places where one’s ancestors once lived.