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Gagliardi Family Archive

Pirro Gagliardi (1901–1966): family research archive

My wife Tayene’s great-great-grandfather. He was a foundling born in Lucca, Italy, married in Vecchiano (Pisa) and died in São Paulo, Brazil. This repository keeps every document, transcription and research note, with git history.

Who’s who

Section titled “Who’s who”
Person Born Died Key records here
Pirro GAGLIARDI 11 Mar 1901, 1 am, Via Galli Tassi 27, Lucca (the city hospital/maternity ward), “da genitori ignoti” 5 Sep 1966, Hospital A.C. Camargo, São Paulo (lung cancer), aged 65, retired; buried Cemitério São Miguel Paulista Lucca birth act 388 (1901); banns Vecchiano + Bagni S. Giuliano (Oct 1920); marriage Vecchiano act 89 (5 Dec 1920); São Paulo death (Liberdade, 2º subdistrito, livro C-88 fls 45v)
Maria BRACCIOLI (wife) 27 Jan 1889, 3:30 am, Avane no. 90, Vecchiano (birth act 26/1889; passport and Brazilian records wrongly say 1891) 7 Nov 1968, Hospital N.S. da Penha, São Paulo; widow; buried Cemitério da Saudade birth act 26/1889; 1930 passport; SS Mendoza passenger list 1930; 1940 SP foreigner registration (index); 1968 death (Penha de França, 3º subdistrito, livro C-53 fls 166)
Giovanni Braccioli & Teresa Maffei (daughter of the late Antonio Maffei) (Maria’s parents, of Avane; Giovanni b. c. 1849/50) both dead by 1930 banns/marriage 1920
Teresa (Tereza) GAGLIARDI (daughter) 14 Jul 1921, Vecchiano (birth act 1921 n. 109) 14 Oct 1996 (SP civil registration) 1930 passport photo; Vecchiano extract; Brazilian RNE W677618-0; 1965 SP immigration card; married Miguel JUSTINO (b. Brás, SP, 12 Jan 1916, goldsmith; son of João Justino & Maria Peragino[?], both Italian-born) on 4 Aug 1938 at Penha, São Paulo (casamento n. 2243)
Francesco GAGLIARDI (twin son) 22 Dec 1923, Avane (Vecchiano) 24 Dec 1923, Avane no. 12, aged 2 days birth index; Vecchiano death act 121/1923
Giovanni GAGLIARDI (twin son) 22 Dec 1923, Avane (Vecchiano) 23 Dec 1923, Avane no. 12, aged 2 days birth index; Vecchiano death act 120/1923

Family address in São Paulo: Rua Padre João, 675, Penha (on both Pirro’s 1966 and Maria’s 1968 death records). Informants on the deaths: Reinou Justino (Pirro, 1966) and João Oronzo Justino (Maria, 1968), probably Teresa’s sons or in-laws. Tereza’s 1996 death index also lists Gilberto Justino, Everaldo Oronzo, Reinou Endi.

The big findings (17 Oct 2026)

Section titled “The big findings (17 Oct 2026)”

  1. Pirro was born in the hospital’s maternity ward, not left in the wheel. His original birth act (Lucca 1901, n. 388) gives his birthplace as Via Galli Tassi 27. It was declared by Carlo Celli, “the official delegated by the Superior of the Hospital of this city, to which the Maternity Ward is attached”. The hospital chose the name Pirro and the surname Gagliardi. → His mother was very likely a patient in the Sala di Maternità on 11 March 1901, and the ward’s admission register is the best remaining source for her name.

  2. Both parents unknown in every Italian record (“Ignoto/Ignota”, “Incognito/Incognita”, “N.N./N.N.”). His São Paulo death record also says “ignorado / ignorada”.

  3. Where he grew up: in 1919–1920 he lived in Gello, comune of Bagni di San Giuliano (now San Giuliano Terme, Pisa). That was probably his foster family’s village. The Regi Spedali of Lucca were still his legal guardian at 19 (consent dated 11 Sep 1920).

  4. Marriage: 5 Dec 1920, Vecchiano. Witnesses were Annibale Della Capanna and Gio. Battista Sini.

  5. Migration: Maria and Teresa got a passport in Vecchiano on 5 Jul 1930. They sailed from Genoa in 3rd class on the SS Mendoza (Société Générale de Transports Maritimes) and arrived at Santos on 22 Aug 1930. Maria is listed as head of household (“41”, last residence Pisa), so Pirro was already in Brazil. His own arrival (between Dec 1923 and 1930) is still not found. His 1940 São Paulo foreigner registration (cert. 262920, indexed as “Pirro Gagliardo”) should name the ship and date, but the image is restricted.

  6. Family homes in Italy: Maria was born at Avane no. 90 (1889). In Dec 1923 the couple lived at Avane no. 12, where their newborn twins Giovanni and Francesco died at 2 days old.

  7. Brazil: the family settled in Penha, São Paulo. Pirro died in 1966, Maria in 1968, Teresa in 1996.

  8. The “nun” story: a foundling born in the hospital spent at least his first days or weeks in the brefotrofio ward, nursed by the hospital’s sisters. He may also have been returned there later. Which congregation served Lucca’s brefotrofio around 1901 is still unknown, and the question is in the archive email. See 01_italy_lucca/brefotrofio_history/nun_oral_history_and_hospital_notes.md.

  9. A 2015 coincidence: the Lucca registry office that issued the 2015 birth extract (Via San Paolino 140) sits in a wing of the same old hospital complex where Pirro was born.

  10. Other foundlings the same month: Messalina Veliti (12 Mar), Amarillide (14 Mar), Consalvo (17 Mar) and Galeno (2 Mar) were all born at the maternity ward to unknown parents and named by the hospital. See 02_italy_civil_records/birth_1901_lucca/other_hospital_foundlings_march_1901.md.

Folder map

Section titled “Folder map”
00_source_documents/        Files and notes supplied by the family; previous AI report
01_italy_lucca/             Archivio di Stato di Lucca inventory, hospital/brefotrofio history, maps of Palazzo Galli Tassi
02_italy_civil_records/
  birth_1901_lucca/         Pirro's birth act 388 (+ all pages 24 Feb–25 Mar 1901), other foundlings that month
  marriage_1920_vecchiano/  Banns (19 Oct 1920) and marriage act 89 (5 Dec 1920)
  marriage_1920_san_giuliano_terme/  Second copy of the banns (Bagni S. Giuliano, 25 Oct 1920)
03_brazil/
  civil_records/deaths/     Pirro 1966, Maria 1968 (São Paulo)
  immigration/              Teresa 1965 SP immigration card; ship research
04_family_members/          Maria Braccioli (passport 1930), children
05_correspondence/          Letters to/from archives (drafts + sent)
06_research_notes/          Timeline, sources, open questions, research log

Start with 06_research_notes/timeline.md and 06_research_notes/next_steps.md.