How do I start my Italian genealogy research?

Start by gathering documents you already have, such as birth, marriage, or death records of your ancestors. Once we identify the likely Italian town of origin, our team takes over, searching local civil and parish archives to build your family tree.

What if I don't know the exact town in Italy my ancestors came from?

This is a common starting point. Our experts can often identify your family's town of origin by cross-referencing passenger arrival records, naturalization papers, and census data before initiating the targeted search in Italian archives.

What is a Family History Book?

It is a premium, beautifully designed keepsake we create for you. It includes your reconstructed family tree, digital copies or transcripts of original archival documents, historical photos, and the narrative story of your ancestors' lives in Italy.

About Us

Professional Italian Genealogy Research

Marina Martello
Professional Genealogist
Twenty years in Italy's reading rooms, one family at a time.

About the Genealogist

I am a professional Italian genealogist: twenty years on site in Italy’s parish, civil and military archives, with the diaspora as my field of study. I founded Pro Italian Roots to bring lost family ties back to light one reading room, one register, one name at a time.

The Research Method

Every case begins where the records live: the Italian State Archives, the parish reading rooms, the civil registries of your ancestors’ towns. I decipher old scripts line by line, translate each document, and check every name against multiple sources. I cannot promise the past was simple; I can promise every claim is sourced, dated and cross-checked.

Every research file I deliver often exceeds forty pages: names, dates, sources and their rightful place in history.

President of Progenita · APG member · RootsTech speaker · Author of Radici e Ricordi.

If your family story needs a pair of trained eyes in the Italian archives,
write to me: every research begins with a first letter.

My Research Sources & Archives

Parish Records

State Archives

Civil Registries

Diaspora Research

Watch & Listen

Recorded lectures and interviews, preserved in their original languages.

Ricerca genealogica con il Portale Antenati: come iniziare e dove cercare informazioni — a RootsTech 2026 online session for FamilySearch Italia: how to start on the Portale Antenati, and where to look when a record is not online. In Italian.
FamilySearch Live Talk – Italia, Parte 1 — live from RootsTech 2026 in Frankfurt: the FamilySearch team and guest genealogists review the conference days. In Italian.
L'emigrazione italiana verso le Americhe — FamilySearch Italia il Podcast, E04 — why Italian families left for the Americas at the end of the 19th century, and how to begin a family search. In Italian, 43 minutes.
Festival delle Radici: interview with Italea Trentino Alto Adige — closing words from the Festival delle Radici in Trentino, on communities and origins. In Italian, 2 minutes.