PRIMARY DOCUMENTS: THE EVIDENCE GALLERY

Claude’s 1911 Passport: ‘Figlio di sig. Carlo’

Official Italian passport from 1911 explicitly stating Claude was the son of Mr. Carlo, government-issued identification requiring verified parentage. No source document ~1 min read

Claude Valsuani’s 1911 Italian passport, issued in Messina on May 19, 1911, provides crucial official confirmation of his parentage from the Kingdom of Italy.

Document Specifications

Document Type: Kingdom of Italy passport
Issue Date: May 19, 1911
Issuing Authority: Messina
Holder: Valsuani Claudio
Age at Issue: Approximately 35 years

Key Text

“figlio di sig. Carlo”
Translation: “son of Mr. Carlo”

Physical Description

The passport includes a portrait photograph of Claude with his characteristic mustache, official blue stamps from the Kingdom of Italy, handwritten personal details, and official signatures from issuing authorities.

Evidential Value

Passport applications in this era required verification of identity and parentage through presentation of birth certificates or other official documentation. This is not a private document or informal record, it is state-issued identification that independently confirms the birth certificate’s declaration of Carlo as Claude’s father.

The passport was created in 1911, during the period when Claude was actively operating his Paris foundry. If “Marcello” had been his father or the foundry’s patriarch, this would be reflected in official documentation. Instead, we find only Carlo.