Italy Military Records: Difference between revisions

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'''Liste di Leva.''' The draft of young men occurred in two steps. First, all towns in Italy sent to the military district of their province or region, year by year, a list of all living males who had been born in their town eighteen years earlier. The compiliation of the lists into one volume resulted in the ''liste di leva''. These records, recorded in volumes on a year-by-year basis by military district within a region or province, list all living eighteen-year-old males within a district by year of birth and provide (1) the young man's name, his parents’ names, his place of birth, and his currrent place of residence, to which is added (2) information concerning the information about any referrals, additional comments, and information showing verification of the list by the municipal council, followed (3) by data necessary for the operations of the draft commissioner (''commissario di leva'') such as information about the final verification of the list, the number assigned to the male at the time of the closure of the list, personal characteristics of the male (height, color, marital status), and (4) by information on the operations of the draft board (''consiglio di leva'') such as results of a final examination and enrollment, and finally (5) by data defining the status of the male, such as departure date from the district, the destination of the male, and indication whether the male is infirm. Often the ''liste di leva'' provided some but not all of this information. Examples of a title page and of a typical two-page spread in a ''lista di leva'', showing five typical entries, appears immediately below.<br>  

Lista di leva two-page spread (sample)                          

Lista d'estrazione two-page spread (sample)                    

Young men had no right to emigrate from Italy before the age of 18 unless the whole family had departed. From the list of all males eligible for the draft, a certain amount of young men were called (extracted) to actually serve the draft. This depended on eligibility and the number necessary to fulfill the draft quota of the Italian State. Therefore, the ''liste d'estrazioni'' set forth the names of those draft-eligible men who were actually drafted or exempted. If a young man did not present himself for the draft and was not represented at the draft call he could be declared eligible and labelled as a deserter or accounted for because of an exemption. This happened at times to those who legally emigrated to North or South America and also to those who illegally emigrated and who did not return because they could be imprisioned for draft evasion.  

Therefore, in essence the ''liste di leva'' are listings of all young men who had reached eighteen years of age and in essence the ''liste d'estrazione'', also called ''liste di arruolamento'', are listings of those who at age 21 were declared eligible to enter into military service or who were exempted from military service. The preparation of ''liste di leva'' was eliminated in 1923 and thereafter only those of ''estrazione ''were prepared.  

Military records can be of great genealogical value, and the FamilySearch Library has begun to microfilm them. As of 2008, the library has the following records:  

*{{FSC|612401|title-id|disp=Parma, 1806–1915 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|484010|title-id|disp=Cosenza, 1842–1901 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|692313|title-id|disp=Catania, 1840–1923 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|1155216|title-id|disp=Gorizia, 1899-1910 and 1908-1926 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|651761|title-id|disp=Torino, 1875–1910 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|363969|title-id|disp=Bolzano, 1809 (Austrian at the time)}}  

*{{FSC|516025|title-id|disp=Piacenza, 1842-1919 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|486259|title-id|disp=Pistoia, 1809-1814, 1833-1903 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|375210|title-id|disp=Messina, 1870-1902 (city)}}  

*{{FSC|374386|title-id|disp=Siracusa, 1874-1900 (province)}}  

*{{FSC|767962|title-id|disp=Aosta, 1792-1904 (region)}}

To find Italian military records in the FamilySearch Library [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog Catalog], check the Locality Search under:  

*[https://www.esercito.difesa.it/organizzazione/I-Centri-Documentali/Pagine/Breve-Storia.aspx Document Centers (Centri Documentali)] (formerly Military Districts)  

{{Place|Italy}}

[[pt:Itália, Registros Militares]][[fr:Italie : Registres Militaires]]