My grandfather's two brothers, Adone Mori and Raimondo Mori were born in Santa Maria a Monte, Pisa province, Italy and immigrated to France. I find that Adone, b. 16 May 1895 died on November 6, 1968 in Montpellier. The brother, Raimondo was born 16 April 1903, also in Santa Maria. He married Ines Banti in 1925 in Italy. He gave up his Italian citizenship on August 30, 1959 and became a French citizen. I assume that he also died in Montpellier. Is it possible to obtain further information regarding these two brothers? If so, please advise as to how I might go about this since I have no previous experience in France.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Leveroni

Hi
Having relatives in France is a challenge - there is a 100 year rule in that if you want any info on event within the last 100 years then you have to turn up in person at the right Town Hall with proof that you are a direct descendant. There's no centralisation of bdm's as there is in the UK or USA. You know where the event happened - Montpellier - which is wonderful - I don't know whether you speak French but I'd join a French group - there are quite a few on yahoo
http://fr.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/1/2/2123000001/2123001756...
- and ask for help -
The only way I found a living relative was to mail drop everyone in the area with the right surname, plus the Town Hall + the local Church with a letter in French, enclosing a couple of photos so I wasn't mistaken for a gold digger, + a return stamped addressed envelope - look in the telephone directory -
http://www.infobel.com/world/
or
http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pb.cgi?
for names + addresses
I can give you websites etc but I'd start with the telephone directory

Suzanne

Hi Kathleen:

I can only make the following suggestions:

Check this site for guidance in obtaining vital records in France:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/france/a/french_ancestry_2.htm

Also, you can do this - go to http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pb.cgi -
Type the surname MORI in the box “Nom”
Type Montpellier in the box “Localite”
Click “Rechercher”

You’ll obtain 8 persons with the last name MORI in Montpellier. They could be descendants of Raimondo and Adone. Why not write to some of them or all of them, but preferably in French. I, myself, found my uncles and cousins in France, by sending about 2 dozens letters to people with my maiden surname mostly in the area where I knew my paternal ancestors originated from.

In case you want to obtain death records or others, write to (in French) (but as Suzanne mentioned it, there is probably the 100 yr rule - don't know if it applies to Deaths though!).

Mairie
1 Place Francis Ponge
34000 Montpellier
France

You could also subscribe to the below-listed groups and then post your message asking for a volunteer to help you search and obtain these documents (gratis, usually) (it probably be best if you write in French).

cgw-34-subscribe@yahoogroupes.fr
LibrActes-subscribe@yahoogroupes.fr

Good luck.

Lucie

Hi
Re 100 year rule - there is a handy system in France where, if you are lucky, on the acte de naissance (birth entry) someone will add down the side the date of marriage + even the date of death - so I found someone who died in WW1 but only because the details were on the birth entry. So far I have only found this in an area where the person was still living in the town of his birth.
The other nice thing is that these 'actes' are free, just a return stamped addressed envelope

Also I'd join geneanet

http://www.geneanet.org/?lang=en

Go to the Search tab on the left + put in a search for - say - Hérault - which is the département - having said that there aren't actually any contacts just a map - but you never know. You can set it to send you emails when there are new entries for the name

Suzanne

Thanks for the excellent suggestions regarding my family. I tried the phone books and have sent off several letters. I will let you know if I get a reply.

I didn't know about the 100 year rule. Is that 100 years from the event? I can understand 100 years from the birth since there are states such as Colorado where I can't get a birth record unless I can prove they are dead. But 100 years from the death? I will be dead too!!

Again, thanks for giving me a place to start.

Thanks, Lucie,

I am going to try and write for death records. I also picked two of the seven listed on the telephone list you suggested and will try those.

I don't speak or write French but hopefully the translation on my computer from English to French will get me by. When I do that in Italian it usually works!

Thanks for your excellent suggestions. I am just beginning this line and that will give me a start. France is new for me although I have done Russian, Italian, Scottish, and Swede.

Kathleen

Yes I'm afraid so - but as I said - if you are lucky then a note of the death might be written in the margin of the marriage of birth. That is what has cut me short on the search for more living relatives over there.
Keep us up to date with the letters. I always feared that I might be taken for a gold digger so enclosed a few photos of proof of who I was - also you can easily find a translation service on the internet - http://translation.langenberg.com/
there are quite a few of them

Suzanne

Dear Suzanne,

You have been so very helpful. I used the service for translating as you suggested and am going to put the letter into the mail today to City Hall. When it is suggested that I send a SASE, what do I use for postage?

When I wrote to the City Hall in Italy I enclosed euro 15,00 in cash. My husband really questioned it but it got results. I don't know quite what the custom is in France. I did make a copy of the certified birth for this uncle and have a copy to send to them with my request just to prove that he is related. Do you have any other words of advice before I seal the envelope?

Thanks again

Hi

I know you can by UK + US stamps online now - I have googled Fench online stamps with no luck tho you might fare better. I'd get someone who is going to France to buy you some - this is what I did - but I'm afraid I used all mine up - are you in the UK? - perhaps it's possible to buy envelopes with a return postage on them as we are all in the EU. Otherwise I'd do what you did - put some euros in - but unless you are the other side of the world 15euros seems a bit much
Another useful address
http://genealogy.about.com/od/france/a/french_ancestry.htm

But here is the address I've been looking for - it's a template for your letter

http://genealogy.about.com/library/blfrenchletter.htm

and 1/2 way down this page is French to click on for more template letters

http://genealogy.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya...

Good luck - my fingers are crossed for you

Suzanne

ORDER FRENCH INTERNATIONAL STAMPS FROM THE FRENCH POST WEBSITE: (The on-line Stamp Boutique at La Poste)
http://timbres.laposte.fr/
>>>
Click on the English flag in the top right corner.
Voila! They also provide the same service for Spanish, Italian and German too.
>>>
I ordered some myself in February and recieved them quite promptly. The hard part was FINDING the site. Be sure to ORDER "International" stamps. Though the site has English Headings, and ordering.. the detailed descriptions of the stamps and packets are in French. If you have any queries, their customer service e-mail address is Phil@poste. "Phil" will write you back in his best English!

CUSTOMER SERVICE
..
E-mail: Phil@poste
..
Postal address:
La Poste
3-5 avenue Galliéni
94250 Gentilly
[in the Paris "suburbs"]


** Téléphone (within France) 05 53 03 19 26
[Notice that there's a '0' in front of the city code which is removed if calling from Canada or the US, and replaced with our "exit code" (011) and the French "Country Code" (33)]
..
** Téléphone (International) 00 33 5 53 03 19 24
This should work from Mexico and perhaps various other countries, but from the US and Canada we dial
011-33-5-5303-1924

[ Don't give up if no one answers the phone seems to simply quits ringing & when I got thru, there was no one handy to speak English. Just say PARLE VOUS ANGLAIS? non=no and oui/'wee'=yes.]
..
Télécopie 05 53 03 19 85 - RCS Paris 356000000
[Fax]
We would dial 011-33-5-5303-1985
Mexico dials 005-5303-1985
I HOPE THIS WORKS FOR YOU!
DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW!
Regards,
Sue Johnson