Ariodante Fabretti Foundation
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Historical Archive

Opening hours:

Monday 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday - Friday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

The Archives are divided in 9 sections (Local Cremation Societies, the Archives of the Italian Federation for Cremation, Laws and Funerary Police Regulations, Personages, Funerals of Celebrities, Funerals of Subversive Persons, Religious Minorities, Death during the French Revolution, Iconography) with a total of  850 fascicles of documents and records from all over Italy, and specifically from the State Central Archives, the different local State Archives, the Municipalities Archives, the local Cremation Societies and the Italian Federation of the Cremation Societies. The chronological period covered by these documents goes from the French Revolution to II World War.

Local Cremation Societies: with its 664 fascicles, divided in 210 bundles, it is the largest section of the Archives and includes records related to the establishment and history of the Italian Cremation Societies of Arezzo, Asti, Bergamo, Bologna, Bra, Cremona, Firenze, Forlì, Genova, Livorno, Lodi, Lugano, Mantova, Milano, Modena, Novara, Parma, Pavia, Pisa, Pistoia, Perugia, Reggio Emilia, Roma, Siena, Spoleto, Torino, Venezia, Verona, Udine; of particular importance  are the Historical Archives of  the Turin SOCREM (Cremation Society) with all original documents that go back to 1882 (190 bundles, 570 fascicles).

Archives of the Italian Federation for Cremation: this section includes part of the documents related to the history of the Italian Federation for Cremation (national and international correspondence, conferences, meetings, by-laws, and statistics). Including so far 94 fascicles divided in 14 bundles, it will soon be enlarged by more documents from the Federation (mainly records of various meetings held all over the world).

Laws and Funerary Police Regulations: with 24 fascicles (3 bundles) includes the funerary police regulations, the legal procedures concerning bodies and their transport, and, partially, the correspondence between the Ministry of the Interior and some cremation societies.

Personages: with its 31 fascicles in 4 bundles this section includes biographical documents concerning those personages that played a fundamental role in the making of the ‘idea’ of cremation.

 “Funerals of Celebrities” and Funerals of Subversive Persons: these are two sections, with 28 fascicles in 4 bundles and 6 fascicles in 1 bundle respectively, that include mainly documents from the Ministry of the Interior and from the Central Political Registry, concerning the death of people that either played an important role in the political life of Italy after its unification, or that were considered dangerous due to their political ideas, particularly during the fascist period (republicans, socialists, communists, anarchists, freemasons).

Religious Minorities: this section includes documents and records concerning the death of Jews, Waldesians, and Protestants, and the different funerary procedures of each of these religious minorities. It is now divided in three fascicles (1 bundle). 

Death during the French Revolution: it includes the 40 ‘mémoires’ presented to the Institut de France for the competition concerning funerary ceremonies and cemeteries in the year VIII (1801) and other documents related to interment.

Iconography: includes drawings, plans, projects and photographs mainly concerning the Turin Cremation Society, but also those of Florence and Perugia. The number of photographs is being increased in these months.