Conference: “Demographic Evolutions and Changes in Family Typologies in the 19th Century”
Rosella Rettaroli (University of Bologna) – Demographic sources for understanding population evolution. From the “Status Animarum” to pre and post-unification censuses.
Francesco Scalone (University of Bologna) – Family structures and social groups in 19th century Italy.
Silvano Bedei (Historian) – The population of Forlimpopoli in the censuses and archive records of the 19th century.
State surveys and censuses that have occurred during historical times constitute the basic sources for reconstructing the evolution of population and family and social structures. Through the use of census information, it is possible to recompose the history of the population, highlighting the transformation of social customs and habits. Initially born for specific administrative and governmental purposes, Censuses represent today a precious body of knowledge to rediscover and value. In particular, the censuses carried out during the 19th century offer the possibility of studying the transformations that distinguished the population and families of the time.
For centuries, the structure of Italian families has reflected the socio-professional system and the considerable territorial differences existing in the peninsula. There has never been a single family model, but rather different cohabitation methods ranging from the domestic aggregates of labourers to the larger and more articulated ones of sharecroppers. Towards the end of the 19th century, new typologies of families more typical of industrial society began to emerge in a still deeply rural country.
Based on rich documentation preserved at the municipal historical archive of Forlimpopoli, it is possible today to study the slow transformation process of families and the population over the 19th century. The documentation concerns not only the cards of national and state censuses, but also the frequent surveys of the pre-unification period and the registers of the population and civil status of the second half of the 19th century, as well as information derived from administrative correspondence entitled Statistics and Population.
For information:
Italy-Argentina Foundation – Emilio Rosetti
Via O. Campri, 39
47034 Forlimpopoli (FC)
Phone: +39 347.8286321
Email: fondazione@fondazionerosetti.it
Website: www.fondazionerosetti.it
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