Every family is a different story. Here are four pieces of research we have carried out: three for private clients, presented anonymously, and one for Livorno’s cultural institutions.

Modigliani: back to the documents

The question. In 2019 and 2020 the exhibition “Modigliani and the Montparnasse adventure” at the Museo della Città di Livorno and the conference “Modigliani, a Livornese Jew” brought the painter’s family back into the spotlight. The biographies, however, repeated one another, often with the same mistakes.

The sources. Civil records, the archives of Livorno’s Jewish community and the historical archive of the Chamber of Commerce of the Maremma and Tyrrhenian area, which holds the papers of the Modigliani and Garsin families’ businesses.

The results. We reconstructed the Livornese origins of both branches, that of his father Flaminio and that of his mother Eugenia Garsin, and brought to light unpublished documents about their activities. We also established that Jeanne Hébuterne died on 26 January 1920, not on the 25th as stated on her gravestone, and that the remains of Jeanne and Amedeo were reunited in the same grave only in 1925.

The impact. The findings were presented at the conference and taken up by the City of Livorno, the Museo della Città and the press (see Press and institutions).

A family from the Pisan hills, over nine generations

The question. A client knew his grandparents and had a few memories of his great-grandparents: he wanted to know where his family really came from.

The sources. Parish and civil registers of about ten municipalities between Pisa and Livorno (Lorenzana, Orciano Pisano, Chianni, Lari, Collesalvetti, Fauglia and others), together with the 1841 Tuscan census.

The results. More than a hundred ancestors found, up to nine generations, going back to the mid-eighteenth century. What emerged was a family rooted for centuries in the Pisan hills, moving from village to village following marriages and work before reaching Livorno.

What the client received. A report with copies of the records and a set of print-ready charts: the ancestor fan chart, the ancestor table, the migration map, the family timeline and the geography of the surname in 1841. Examples are on the Services page.

From the United States to Livorno, twelve generations

The question. An American client knew that his ancestors had left from Livorno, but had never been able to research in Italy.

The sources. Parish and civil registers of Livorno and Tuscany. The other branches of the family also took us to Piedmont, Abruzzo, Apulia and even Suez, in Egypt.

The results. The paternal line was reconstructed over twelve generations, back to an ancestor born around 1647 in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, whose family later settled in Livorno. Every step is documented by a record.

What the client received. Everything remotely, by email: the report, digital copies of the records and the family tree of the research.

An Italian citizenship case (iure sanguinis)

The question. A client living abroad needed to prove descent from his Livornese grandparents in order to apply for Italian citizenship.

The sources. Livorno civil registers and municipal registry offices.

The results. In just over two weeks we found the grandfather’s birth and marriage records and obtained from the municipality the official multilingual (international) extracts, including the grandmother’s birth record.

What the client received. Images of the original records and the official extracts, ready for the citizenship application. Apostilles and translations, when needed, are a separate service.

What is your family’s story? Tell us what you already know: we will reply with a free, personalised quote.