Grandmother’s stories inspire 45-year-old to build San Marino’s family tree

Giorgio Bologna spent more than 10 years building a family tree that connects more than 42,000 people linked to San Marino, including the republic’s current population and families from nearby parts of Italy.

The project covers far more people than San Marino has residents today. The small republic has about 34,000 inhabitants, while Bologna’s database follows earlier generations, neighboring Italian families and a network of emigrants.

To reconstruct the links, he examined population censuses, birth records, death certificates, marriage records, obituaries and historical documents held in archives in San Marino and Italy. He also visited numerous cemeteries. In some cases, DNA analysis helped identify distant relatives and restore family connections.

The family tree includes documents dating back to the 17th century. It has become a reference point for people who now contact Bologna to investigate their own origins.

“My passion grew from the desire to discover my own roots and from the curiosity my grandmother instilled in me,” Bologna said. He added that family ties are particularly strong in a community as geographically small as San Marino.

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My passion grew from the desire to discover my own roots and from the curiosity my grandmother instilled in me.