Brazil Archives and Libraries

This section describes the major repositories of genealogical and historical records and sources for Brazil.

Archival Research
There are many repositories with genealogical information for Brazilian research:


 * National archives and libraries (arquivos e bibliotecas nacionais)
 * State archives (arquivos do Estado)
 * District and municipal civil registry offices (Cartório Distrital e Municipal do Registro Civil)
 * Diocese and parish archives
 * Private and public libraries
 * Historical and genealogical societies

Records of genealogical value at district, state, and national archives include the following:

The Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) and state and city public archives also have:

Some helpful guides to federal, state, municipal, and church records are:


 * Catálogo dos Arquivos Brasileiros (Catalog of Brazilian Archives). Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 1977.


 * Guia Brasileiro de Fontes para a História da África, da Escravidão Negra e do Negro na Sociedade Atual: Fontes Arquivistas (Brazilian Guide of Sources for the History of Africa, Black Slavery and of the Negro in the Present Society). 2 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 1988. Volume 2 has information of the collections in the National Archives, in Rio de Janeiro.

If you plan to visit one of these repositories, contact the organization, and ask for information about its collection, hours, services, and fees. Some of that information may also be found on the Internet. You may need to obtain a letter of introduction from your embassy before visiting a repository. For help writing to a Portuguese archive, use the Portuguese Letter-Writing Guide.

National Government Archives and Libraries
Addresses for the national archives of Brazil and other national repositories are as follows:

Arquivo Nacional (National Archive) Praça da Republica 173 Centro RIO DE JANEIRO 20211-350 Brazil Tel Fax: (55)(21)2179-1228 E-mail: [mailto:arquivonacional@rio.com.br arquivonacional@rio.com.br] Internet: http://www.arquivonacional.gov.br/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm

Arquivo do Ministério do Exército (Archive of the Ministry of the Army) Praça Duque de Caxias 20221-260 Rio de Janeiro, RJ BRASIL

Arquivo da Marinha (Archive of the Navy) Praça Barão de Ladário - Centro Edif. do 1º Distrito Naval - Térreo 20091-000 Rio de Janeiro, RJ BRASIL

Arquivo do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (Archive of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Brazil) Av Augusto Severo 8 20000 Rio de Janeiro, RJ BRASIL http://www.ihgb.org.br/acervo3.php

State Archives
In Brazil each state has its own archives that are separate from those of the national government. They serve as repositories for records about their particular area. Records of genealogical value at state archives may include the following:

The state archives of Brazil are open to members of the public who have proper identification and permission (that is, a letter of introduction from your country’s embassy, a university official, or another notable organization).

Following are the addresses of the state archives:

Arquivo Geral do Estado do Acre Av. Epaminondas Jácome nº 3047 - Centro - Rio Branco - AC CEP. 69908-420 Brazil Tel/Fax: (0**68) 3224-3855 Arquivo Público de Alagoas Praça D. Pedro II - 57 - Centro 57020-130 Maceió - AL BRASIL Tel.: (082) 3326-6722

Fundação Cultural do Estado de Amapá FUNDECAP Av. Ivaldo Veras s/nº - Jardim Marcozero Macapá - AP - CEP. 68903-032 BRASIL Tel.: (096) 3212-5125 Arquivo Público Estadual de Amazonas Rua Bernardo Ramos, 265 69005-320 Manaus - AM BRASIL Tel.: (092) 3232-3878

Arquivo Público do Estado da Bahia Ladeira de Quintas, 50 - Baixa de Quintas 40320-140 Salvador - BA BRASIL Tel.: (071) 233-4455 Fax: (071) 233-5112/244-2747

Arquivo Público do Estado do Ceará Rua Senador Alencar, 348 - Centro CEP: 60030-050 - Fortaleza CE Fone: (0xx85) 3101.2615 Website: [mailto:apec@secult.ce.gov.br apec@secult.ce.gov.br]

Arquivo Público do Distrito Federal SAP, Lote 7 - Bloco 41 - NOVACAP 71215-000 Brasília - DF BRASIL Tel.: (061) 361-1454 Fax: (061) 233-2191 Website: www.gdf.gov.br/arpdf/info.html

Arquivo Público Estadual do Espírito Santo Rua Pedro Palácios, 76 - Cidade Alta 29015-160 Vitória - ES BRASIL Tel.: (027) 3223-7524 Fax: (027) 3223-2952

Arquivo Histórico do Estado de Goiás Centro Cultural Marieta Telles Machado, Anexo 2 - Setor Central Praça Dr. Pedro Ludovico Teixeira, 2 - Goiânia - GO - CEP. 74003010 Brasil Tel: (0**62) 3212-4606

Arquivo Público do Estado do Maranhão Rua Nazaré, 218 - Centro 65010-410 São Luís - MA BRASIL Tel.: (098) 3232-4544 E-mail: [mailto:apem@funcma.ufma.br apem@funcma.ufma.br]

Arquivo Público de Mato Grosso Centro Político Administrativo - CPA Palácio Paiaguás - Bloco 3 78050-970 Cuiabá - MT BRASIL Tel.: (065) 313-3103 Fax: (065) 313-2253 Website: http://www.apmt.mt.gov.br/

Arquivo Público do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa 559 - Centro Campo Grande - MS - CEP. 79002-820 BRASIL Tel.: (067) 382-5440

Arquivo Público Mineiro (Minas Gerais) Av. João Pinheiro, 372 – Funcionários Belo Horizonte, MG 30130-180 Telefax: (31) 3269-1060 / Website: http://www.cultura.mg.gov.br/?task=home&amp; sec=5

Arquivo Público do Estado do Pará Travessa Campos Sales, 273 - Comércio 66019-050 Belém - PA BRASIL Tel.: (091) 241-9700 Fax: (091) 241-9097 Website: http://www.arqpep.pa.gov.br/

Arquivo Administrativo da Paraíba Rua Presidente Kennedy, s/nº - subsolo - Paraíba - PB - CEP. 58042-100 BRASIL Tel: (0**83) 3211-6259  Arquivo Público do Estado do Paraná Rua dos Funcionários 1796 Cabral - 80035-050 Curitiba - Paraná Brazil Telefone 41 3352-2299 Fax 41 3252-1728 Website: http://www.pr.gov.br/arquivopublico/

Arquivo Público Estadual de Pernambuco Rua do Imperador D. Pedro II 371-Santo Antônio 50010-240 Recife - PE BRASIL Tel.: (081) 224-0085 Tel./Fax: (081) 224-0620

Arquivo Público e Museu Histórico do Piauí Rua Coelho Rodrigues, 1016 - Centro 64000-160 Teresina - PI BRASIL Tel.: (086) 3221-5541

Arquivo Público do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Rua do Riachuelo, 287 Centro 20230-011 Rio de Janeiro - RJ BRASIL Tel.: (021) 232-6299 Tel/Fax: (021) 232-7338/221-7960 Website: www.aperj.rj.gov.br/

Arquivo Público Estadual do Rio Grande do Norte Rua José Agnaldo de Barros 2872 Parque das Colinas 59065-000 Natal - RN BRASIL Tel./Fax: (084) 207-3351 E-mail: [mailto:vanilde@secrin.m.gov.br vanilde@secrin.m.gov.br]

Arquivo Histórico do Rio Grande do Sul Memorial do Rio Grande do Sul na Rua Sete de Setembro 1020- 2º andar, Centro Porto Alegre-RS-Cep: 90010-191 Brasil Phone: (51) 3227.0883 Website: http://www.cultura.rs.gov.br/principal.php?inc=arq_hist Arquivo Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul Rua Riachuelo, 1031 Centro Histórico 90010-270 Porto Alegre - RS Tel.Fax: 55(51) 3288-9100 Website: www.apers.rs.gov.br/   E-mail: apers@sarh.rs.gov.br

Arquivo Geral do Estado de Rondônia Esplanada das Secretarias Av. Farquar, s/n 78900-350 Porto Velho - RO BRASIL Tel.: (069) 222-2801

Arquivo Público do Estado de Roraima Rua Miguel Lupe Martins, s/n - São Pedro 69306-490 Boa Vista - RR BRASIL Tel.: (095) 3621-3871

Arquivo Público do Estado de Santa Catarina Av. Mauro Ramos, 1264 - Centro 88020-302 Florianópolis - SC BRASIL Telefone(s): (48) 224-6080; 224-0890; Fax: (48) 224-7019 Website: http://www.geocities.com/arquivoscatarinenses/apesc.htm E-mails: [mailto:arquivopublicosc@sea.sc.br arquivopublicosc@sea.sc.br,] [mailto:associacaoamigos.sc@bol.com.br associacaoamigos.sc@bol.com.br]

Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo Rua Voluntários da Pátria, 596 - Santana 02010-000 São Paulo - SP BRASIL Tel.: (011) 6221-4785 E-mail: [mailto:fausto@mandic.com.br fausto@mandic.com.br] Website: www.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br

Arquivo Público Estadual de Sergipe Praça Fausto Cardoso, 348 - Centro 49010-080 Aracaju - SE BRASIL Tel.: (079) 3179-1908 Arquivo Público Estadual de Tocantins 99000 Palmas, TO BRASIL

Civil and District Civil Registry Offices
In Brazil, records created by the local government, including birth, death, and marriage records, are kept in the local registry offices (Cartório Municipal) or the district registry offices (Cartório Distrital). These records are available to the public. For more information about these offices and their records, see Brazil Civil Registration.

If records are not available through the Family History Library from the towns your ancestors were from, you may need to write to the registry offices in that area. For help writing a letter in Portuguese, see the Portuguese Letter-Writing Guide.

Dioceses and Parish Archives
Brazil holds fourty-four ecclesiastical provinces, divided into 215 dioceses and 45 archdioceses, each of which has many records of genealogical and historical value for its regions. . Each dioceses or archdioceses contains many parishes. Some dioceses of the Catholic Church have gathered copies of local parish church records into the diocese archives.

Archdioceses and dioceses records usually include:
 * Chaplaincy records (registros de capelania)
 * Dispensations (dispensas)
 * Ecclesiastical court matters
 * Inquisition records (diligências de habilitação/inquisição)
 * Marriage processes (processos de casamento)
 * Marriage bonds/banns (dispensos de matrimônio e casamentos)
 * Parish censuses (censos/confessados)
 * Parish registers (registros paroquiales)
 * Pedigree records (autos de genere)
 * Priesthood ordinations (ordenações do sacerdócio)
 * Wills (testamentos)

Catholic Church records less than 100 years old are usually kept by the local parish, which may also have earlier records. Some of these records have been microfilmed by the Family History Library, and are found through the FamilySearch catalog.

For records not available through the Family History Library, you can write to these archives and request brief searches of their records. Use the Portuguese Letter-Writing Guide. For additional information, see Brazil Church Records.

For addresses to the archdioceses archives, visit the Wikipedia page List of Catholic Dioceses in Brazil. From there, you can find contact information for the parishes within the dioceses.

Libraries and Archives of Portugal
Some pre-1822 sources for Brazil are also available in libraries in Portugal and are listed below. Please click on the link for more information:
 * Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo
 * Arquivo Histórico Militar
 * Biblioteca e Arquivo Central de Marinha
 * Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Historical Oversea Archive)
 * Biblioteca da Ajuda (Library of Assistance)
 * Biblioteca Nacional (National Library)

For information on records of Brazil in Portugal, see:
 * Almeida, Eduardo de Castro, Inventário dos documentos relativos ao Brasil existentes no Arquivo da Marinha e Ultramar de Lisboa (Inventory of documents relating to Brazil that exist in the Marinha and Utramarino archives). 8 vols. Rio de Janeiro, 1913–1938.

Private and Public Libraries
Brazilian libraries have collected published sources such as local histories, phone directories, maps, newspapers, and genealogies. See Brazil Genealogy for information about compiled family histories.

The National Library has an extensive collection of manuscripts and published sources. For information, write to:

Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (National Library Establishment) Av. Rio Branco 219-239 20040-008 Rio de Janeiro, RJ BRASIL Tel 55 21 3095 3879 Fax 55 21 3095 3811 Internet: http://www.bn.br/site/default.htm

Other useful libraries include:

Instituto Genealógico Brasileiro Rua Sete de Abril, 230 01044-000 São Paulo, SP BRASIL Tel.: (11) 257-4840

Universidade de São Paulo Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira CP 8191 05508-900 São Paulo BRASIL Fax: (11) 815-2142 E-mail: [mailto:dtsibi@org.usp.br dtsibi@org.usp.br] Internet: http://www2.usp.br/portugues/index.usp

Many of the archives, museums, libraries, and universities of Brazil can be found on the Internet at:


 * http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/latam.html
 * http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/subject/libraries/

Historical and Genealogical Societies
In Brazil there are organized historical and genealogical societies. Some societies maintain libraries and archives that collect valuable records. For more information, see Brazil Societies.

Inventories, Registers, and Catalogs
Many archives have catalogs, inventories, guides, or periodicals that describe their records and how to use them. If possible, study these guides before you visit, or use the records during your visit so you can use your time more effectively. See:


 * Catálogo dos arquivos brasileiros (Catalog of the Brazilian archives). Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 1977.

A guide to the archives and libraries for slavery records in Brazil is:


 * Guia brasileiro de fontes para a história da África, da escravidão negra e do negro na sociedade atual: fontes arquivistas (Brazilian Guide of Sources for the History of Africa, Black Slavery and of the Negro in the Present Society). 2 vols. Arquivo Nacional: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1988. This guide describes the records in federal, state, and ecclesiastical archives.

Newspapers
The GLOBE Archive is a service that allows access to the digital version of all pages and material in the Journal GLOBE published since its first edition in July 29, 1925.

The Jornal do Brasil Newspaper has a trial version of the Official Centennial Collection of Brazil online.