Greece Civil Registration: Difference between revisions

After the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, local governments were responsible for various types of record keeping. Because there was no separation of church and state, information was often gathered by the Greek Orthodox priest and reported to the town clerk. The extent of municipal record keeping varied. Therefore, records described in this section may not exist for all towns and may be incomplete or contain gaps. In many towns, municipal clerks recorded births, marriages, and deaths (likely obtained from the priest). Towns and cities were also supposed to maintain registers of males, females, or both. Population lists were also kept. Additionally, lists of families were kept in each community, including Town registers (''dimotologion''), Reports (''ektheseis''), and the family status records (''oikogeneiaki katastasis''). Other records beneficial in genealogical research includes: lists of employees (''katastasis ypalilon''), relatives of deceased, passports, and certificates of residency.

Some records begin as early as 1825, but most date to the 1840s and 1850s.<ref>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>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>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>

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>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>

Town (resident) registers are lists of family groups living in a particular locality. For communities where these registers exist, the registers start by at least 1887. They list the given name, age, and occupation for each individual. 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. (Source: Greg Kontos, Research in Greece Using Civil and Church Records, HELLENIC GENEALOGY CONFERENCE. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgnuo4xVM6Q&feature=youtu.be Video]

This is a certificate that can be provided by the archives, taking the data from the dimitologion. Information includes: family number, date of registration, name of individuals in family, their birth date and place, religion, citizenship, and other notations. <br>

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.

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

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)

See, [[Media:GAK - How to Navigate.pdf|'''How to Navigate the Greek National Archives.''']]