Greece Civil Registration: Difference between revisions

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==Tutorial==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgnuo4xVM6Q&feature=youtu.be '''Research in Greece: Using Civil and Church Records'''] by Gregory Kontos (2015 Hellenic Genealogy Conference)

::This presentation covers Civil Records found in Town Halls, records at the General Archives of Greece (GAK) and Church records. Learn about each record collection, what they contain and how to access them.

Birth records are available to 1945, marriage records are available to 1950, and death records are available to the present.

===Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers===

The most important civil records for genealogical research are birth, marriage, and death registers. Contemporary civil registration records usually contain the following information.<br>

Birth registers may list:  

*child’s name and gender

*date the birth was reported

*the witnesses' names, ages, occupations, birthplaces, and their fathers' names

*name of priest who acted as recorded

[[Media:Birth Certificate Greece 1.pdf|'''Click here''']] to see a visual example of a birth certificate and its translation.

Civil officials recorded the marriages in registers, usually pre-printed forms bound in a book and kept in the civil office. Marriage registers may list:  

*the date and place of marriage

*the parents' names of the bride and groom

*whether this is the first or a subsequent marriage of the bride or groom

*the witnesses' names

[[Media:Marriage certificate Greece 1.pdf|'''Click here''']] for a visual example of a marriage certificate and its translation.

Death records are helpful because they may provide important information on a person’s birth, spouse, and parents. Death registers may list:

*the name of the deceased

*date recorded

*marital status and spouse’s name

*parents' names for men and single women

Women’s maiden names are not mentioned in death records. '''Civil death records often exist for individuals for whom there are no birth or marriage records.'''

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Some records begin as early as 1825, but most date to the 1840s and 1850s.<ref name="FHRP">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Records Profile: Greece,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1999.</ref>

When Greece became an independent state, communities began keeping registers of males (''mitroon arrenon''), which list all the males born in a particular community. They were kept for voting and military purposes. Male registers were created for all communities in Greece. As new areas became part of Greece, their communities also began keeping male registers. In some areas, male registers were reconstructed from other records back to 1825.<ref name="Hellenic Genealogy Conference">Greg Kontos, Research in Greece Using Civil and Church Records, HELLENIC GENEALOGY CONFERENCE. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgnuo4xVM6Q&feature=youtu.be Video]</ref> Male registers list: names of male individuals, parents' names, birth year (later registers list full date of birth), place of birth, residence, and sometimes death date. Entries are often listed chronologically and alphabetically. Information for these registers often came from birth registers.<ref name="FHRP" />

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Some areas also kept a female register (''mitroon thileon''), which usually started at a later date than the male register. These registers were created retrospectively and therefore may be missing some people. Female registers list: name of female individuals, parents' name, birth year (later registers list full date of birth), place of birth, and residence. The entries are listed chronologically by the date of birth. Information for these registers often came from birth registers.<ref name="FHRP" />

Town registers (''dimotologion'') are lists of family groups living in a particular locality. For communities where these registers exist, the registers start by at least 1887. Town registers may list: names of family members, birth date and place, age, residence, occupation, religion, method by which citizenship was acquired, reference number in male register, date and reason an individual was taken off the list (such as marriage, migration, death), emigration information, and so forth.<ref name="FHRP" /> Once a resident register was compiled, it was kept current by adding new information such as marriage, death, and immigration dates. These records can be found in the municipal archives. <ref name="Hellenic Genealogy Conference" />

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[[File:Ceb4ceaecebbcf89cf83ceb7-cf80ceb5cf81ceb9cebfcf85cf83ceb9ceb1cebaceaecf82-cebaceb1cf84ceaccf83cf84ceb1cf83ceb7cf82-ceadcf84cebfcf855.jpg|800px]]

====Other Records====

*Registers of births, marriages, and deaths were kept by the municipal government. The content of these registers is similar to the information provided in church registers and likely came from the same source, the priest.

*Reports of the family (''ektheseis'') were kept by municipal clerks. These records often list names of family members, birth dates and places, and ancestry (sometimes including four generations of family information).

Civil registration records (and copies) can be found in multiple locations.

Most civil records can be found in municipal archives (''dimotika archeia'') located in local mayors' or community presidents' offices.

*[http://www.ypes.gr/el/Regions/Aytodioikhsh/StatesMunicipalities/ '''Municipality (Town Hall) addresses''']

#Click on a region.

#Click on a prefecture.

Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf:<br>

<br>

*[[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality.pdf|'''Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality''']]

**Follow up Thank You letter

In large cities, civil records since 1925 can be found in official civil registry offices. These are under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior (''Ypourgeion Esoterikon'').

Copies may also be found in the county archives (''nomarhia'').

*[http://www.gak.gr/Cont/cont-py-00.html '''Links and addresses for county archives''']

These provinces have full birth, marriage, and death records online:

*[http://arxeiomnimon.gak.gr/browse/index.html?code=GRGSA-KER '''GSA-Archives of the County of Corfu'''] (17th-20th century)

*[http://arxeiomnimon.gak.gr/browse/index.html?code=GRGSA-KEF '''GSA-Archives of the County of Cephalonia'''] (18th-20th century)

*GSA-Regional Archive of Ithaca island (19th-20th century)

Some records are collected by the General State Archives of Greece (GAK). The [http://www.gak.gr '''Archives of Greece'''] has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS).

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Some records are online. Others are  not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request.

*[http://arxeiomnimon.gak.gr/browse/index.html '''List of holdings, both in house and online''']

*[http://arxeiomnimon.gak.gr/browse/index.html?code=GRGSA-CSA '''Online records''']

Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf:<br>

<br>

*[[Media:Lica Catsakis Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK).pdf|'''Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK)''']]

**Requesting information about the family structure and death of an ancestor

**Follow up Thank You letter

The records may be available on microfilm on the [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/search FamilySearch Catalog] or at the Family History Library.

*[https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=162490&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Greece%2C%20Attikis%20(Nomos)%22&subjectsOpen=793764-50,721611-50,629656-50,708140-50 '''Athinai (Athens)''']

**[https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/597504?availability=Family%20History%20Library '''Thessaloniki''']

*Copies from various town halls and city archives have been filmed from the counties of  

**[https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=162488&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Greece%2C%20Attikis%22&subjectsOpen=793764-50,721611-50,629656-50 '''Athens (Attikis)''']

*The Library’s collection continues to grow as new records are microfilmed and added to the collection from numerous sources. Don’t give up if records are not available yet. Check [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=150&query=%2Bplace%3AGreece '''Places within Greece'''] in the  FamilySearch Catalog from time to time to see if new records have been acquired from your area of Greece.

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[[Category:Greece]]

[[Category:Civil Registration]]