Civil registrations in Greece encompass a wide variety of genealogical records. This article covers the four most important types of Greek civil records.
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Civil vital records
Civil vital records are birth, marriage, and death certificates created the Registry Office (Ληξιαρχείο - Lixiarcheio) of a Municipality (Δήμος - Dimos). Every time a vital event (birth, marriage, or death) takes place, it must be declared at the local Registry Office. Since its very early years, the modern Greek state realized the importance of this kind of record-keeping, however, it failed to organize it systematically until 1925.
Depending on the time period, the format of a civil vital record may vary. A typical birth certificate created after 1925 includes the following: when, where, and who informed the Registry Office about the birth; the date and place of the birth; the given names and surnames of the parents; the sex of the child; and the name the child was given upon baptism. Oftentimes, the baptismal information is provided on the side of the paper or in a separate column. A marriage certificate includes the following: when, where, and who informed the Registry Office about the marriage; the names, surnames, and ages of both the groom and the bride; their parents’ names. Finally, a death certificate includes when, where, and who informed the Registry Office about the death; the date and place of the death; the given name, surname, marital status, residence, birthplace, age, occupation, and religion of the deceased; his/her parents’ names; and the name of the doctor and cause of death.
Being created at the municipal level, civil vital records can generally be found at a Municipality’s Registry Office (Ληξιαρχείο). While “civil vital records after 1925” is the rule, there are some fortunate exceptions, in those cases where the Municipality has offered its Registry Office Archives to the local General State Archives. Such is the case of Corfu, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Samos and a few other places around Greece. In Athens and Thessaloniki, Town Halls have older -though not necessarily complete- records, however, these are not open to researchers. The civil vital records of Corfu are available on MyHeritage, while those of Lefkada are available on Greek Ancestry.
Municipal Register
The Municipal Register (Δημοτολόγιο – Dimotologio) is a list of all of a Municipality’s registered citizens grouped by family. Municipal Registers constitute a very dynamic source of information, with constant amendments. Upon birth, one would be registered under her/his parents’ family registration. When married, a new family registration would be “opened” with any children listed below the couple.
A Municipal Register typically includes the name of the head of a household, his wife, the names of their children and everyone’s year of birth or age. In old registers, the name of the head’s father is usually listed, as is the name of his mother sometimes. The wife of the family’s head is often listed by her maiden name, and her father’s name can be included as well. Apart from this information, a Municipal Register can also mention the occupations of family members, their religion, their residence, when and how they got registered at the Municipality, or when and how they were removed from the Register and/or were transferred to the Register of a different Municipality.
Municipal Registers can primarily be found at the “Dimotologio” department of municipalities. Occasionally, such books can be found at the local General State Archives (GSA/GAK) offices.
Male Register
The Male Register (Μητρώο Αρρένων) is a list of all the males born within the jurisdiction of a Municipality. It started being kept in 1878 in the context of compulsory military service. Early Male Registers include the individual’s name, his year and place of birth, and his father’s name. A notes column is also included. Later records of the 20th century also include the mother’s name and information about the individual’s birth certificate.
While this record type may constitute a very accurate source, there are often discrepancies between the years of birth listed in Male Registers and those listed in other types of records. Male Registers can be found at local General State Archives (GSA/GAK) offices, at municipalities, and at libraries. Some GSA/GAK offices have digitized their Male Register collections and have made them available online. Greek Ancestry and MyHeritage host extensive collections of Male Register records.
Voter list
A voter list is a listing of those citizens eligible to vote in the elections. In Greece, voting rights were recognized for women in 1952, therefore, all previous voter lists included men only. The information included in a voter list depends on the electoral law under which it was created. The voter lists created between 1844 and 1864 are usually sorted by province, municipality, and village, and they typically include the voter’s name, his age, his father’s name, his occupation, his property and nativity status. The lists composed after 1864 include the voter’s name, age, occupation, and father’s name. Lists created after 1881 also make mention of the voter’s current residence.
Voter lists can be found at the General State Archives of Greece (GSA/GAK) and local libraries. Greek Ancestry[2] and MyHeritage[3] host extensive voter list collections in their databases.
See also
Explore more about Civil registrations in Greece
- Historical records from Greece on MyHeritage
- Greece, City Directories, 1901-1947 record collection at MyHeritage
- Greece, Corfu Vital Records, 1841-1932 record collection at MyHeritage
- Greece, Electoral Rolls and Male Registers, 1856-1950 record collection at MyHeritage
- Greek Ancestry
- Greece Genealogy Vital Records Search
- MyHeritage Ask the Expert - New Greek Records on MyHeritage
References
- ↑ Prince Philip’s Birth Certificate Unearthed on Corfu, Greece. Greek Reporter.
- ↑ Discover Family Records. Greek Ancestry
- ↑ Greece, Electoral Rolls and Male Registers, 1856-1950. MyHeritage