ContentsOverview
Zhitomir (Zhytomyr) genealogy records
Zhitomir genealogy records are the surviving documents used to trace families from Zhitomir (Zhytomyr), a town of Volhynia Gubernia in the Russian Empire and, from 1804, the capital of the gubernia. The two main sources are metrical books, the church and synagogue registers of births, marriages and deaths, and revision lists (revizskie skazki), the household census lists compiled for taxation. Most are held in the regional archive in Zhytomyr.
Frequently asked questions about Zhitomir records
What genealogy records survive for Zhitomir?
Metrical books of births, marriages and deaths survive for the Jewish, Orthodox, Old Believer, Roman Catholic and Lutheran communities, together with revision lists and censuses. The earliest records date from 1786. The tables on this page show which years survive, church by church.
Where are Zhitomir records held?
The original books are held in Ukrainian state archives, mainly the State Archive of Zhytomyr Oblast (DAZhO).
Which uezd and gubernia did Zhitomir belong to?
In the Russian Empire Zhitomir belonged to Zhitomir Uezd in Volhynia Gubernia. Today it is Zhytomyr, Ukraine.
Can I find Zhitomir records online?
Sometimes, but not reliably. Most archival records from the Russian Empire have never been digitised or indexed, so an online search can come back empty even when the documents survive. Drevo Research searches the archives directly and can tell you what exists for your family.
Where should I start a search for Zhitomir ancestors?
Start with what you know: names, approximate dates and the family’s faith, and for Christians the parish. These decide which book to look in. Tell us what you have and we will check the archives.
Names and jurisdiction
Zhitomir belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Second Partition in 1793, when it passed to the Russian Empire and became a district town. Volhynia Gubernia was created in 1796 with its seat in Novograd-Volynsky, and in 1804 the seat moved to Zhitomir, where it stayed until the gubernia was abolished in 1925. Today the town is the city of Zhytomyr in Ukraine.
Documents name the town Zhitomir or Zhytomyr, Житомир (Russian and Ukrainian) or Żytomierz (Polish). Searching under every spelling matters, because indexes and catalogues use all of them.
Location and geography
Zhitomir lies on the Teteriv River in northern Ukraine, in what is now Zhytomyr Oblast. The town had many Orthodox parishes, among them the Transfiguration, Dormition, Exaltation of the Cross and St Michael churches and a cathedral, as well as churches attached to the seminary, the hospital, the orphanage and the prison. It also had an Old Believer church, the Roman Catholic church of St Sophia, a Lutheran church and a large Jewish community with its own rabbinate. Which book holds a family’s records therefore depends first on its faith and, for Christians, on its parish, and that is the first thing to establish in a search.
Records analysis
Metrical books and revision lists are among the best sources for tracing a family. Metrical books record births, marriages and deaths year by year, and revision lists show who lived in each household, with ages, so they let you follow a family back to the years before parish registers begin. The tables below show what survives for Zhitomir, church by church and year by year.
But these are not the only sources, and often not the whole story. Archives also hold secondary records, such as police and court files, property and tax records, guild and estate lists, school and military papers and petitions, and these can reveal much more about a family than a name and a date. This is where deep archival research makes the difference. We work with the main sources and with the secondary ones, because together they tell a fuller and more interesting story of the family.
Not finding something online does not mean it does not exist. Most archival records from the Russian Empire have never been digitised or indexed, so a search on popular genealogy websites can come back empty even when the documents survive in the archive. If you have already searched on your own and found nothing, that is a reason to talk to a professional, not to stop.
Drevo Research carries out comprehensive archive research across borders and archives. Tell us what you know and we will tell you what we can find.
Searched online and found nothing? The records may still exist. Tell us about your family.
Zhitomir genealogy records by church and year
The tables show which years survive for each church and record series. Years without records are left out, so gaps are easy to see. The original books are held in Ukrainian state archives, which are administered by the State Archival Service of Ukraine.
Vital records
Metrical books recording births and baptisms, marriages and deaths, kept separately by each religious community until 1920.
Jewish
Jewish metrical books of the Zhitomir rabbinate survive from 1841: births from 1844, and marriages, divorces and deaths from 1841, with a few single years missing.
| Community | Births | Marriages | Divorces | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhitomir Jewish community (rabbinate) | 1844–1846, 1848–1849, 1851–1920 | 1841–1920 | 1841–1845, 1847–1861, 1863–1919 | 1841–1846, 1848–1920 |
Orthodox
Orthodox books of Zhitomir survive from 1797. The oldest are those of the Dormition and Transfiguration churches; the Exaltation of the Cross church, the cathedral and several institutional churches follow in the 19th century, and a number of parishes appear after 1900.
| Church | Births | Marriages | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dormition Church | 1797–1800, 1803, 1805–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1832, 1834–1835, 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1853–1854, 1858–1906, 1909–1920 | 1797–1800, 1803, 1805–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1832, 1834–1835, 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1853–1854, 1858–1920 | 1797–1800, 1803, 1805–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1832, 1834–1835, 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1853–1854, 1858–1920 |
| Transfiguration Church | 1797–1800, 1803–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1831, 1834–1836, 1839–1841 | 1797–1800, 1803–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1831, 1834–1836, 1839–1841 | 1797–1800, 1803–1813, 1815, 1817–1819, 1821–1831, 1834–1836, 1839–1841 |
| Exaltation of the Cross Church | 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 | 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 | 1839–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 |
| Cathedral (Kafedralny) | 1842–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 | 1842–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 | 1842–1845, 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1920 |
| Life-Giving Spring Church (Hospital) | 1845, 1863–1920 | 1863–1917 | 1863–1885, 1901–1920 |
| Prison Church | 1847–1848, 1852–1853, 1858, 1860–1861, 1863–1915 | 1848 | 1847, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1862 |
| St Nicholas Church (Orphanage) | 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1862 | 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1862 | 1847–1848, 1850, 1852–1854, 1858–1862 |
| St Michael Church | 1860–1920 | 1860–1862, 1864–1920 | 1860–1890, 1903–1920 |
| St James Church | 1870–1921 | 1870–1920 | 1870–1920 |
| St Sergius Church (Gymnasium) | 1872–1886 | 1872–1886 | 1872–1886 |
| Presentation Church (Women’s Clergy School) | 1883–1886 | 1883–1886 | 1883–1886 |
| Smolianska Church | 1897–1920 | 1897–1920 | 1897–1920 |
| Putiatynska Church | 1900–1920 | 1900–1920 | 1900–1920 |
| Karakulna Church | 1902–1920 | 1902–1920 | 1902–1920 |
| Intercession Church | 1903–1920 | 1903–1920 | 1903–1920 |
| Seminary Church | 1903–1915 | — | — |
| St Ignatius Cathedral | 1903–1920 | — | — |
| St Methodius Church | — | — | 1903–1905 |
| St Sophia Church | 1905–1917 | — | — |
| Church of St Job (Malovanska) | 1906–1920 | 1906–1920 | 1906–1920 |
| Epiphany Monastery Church | 1917–1920 | — | — |
Old Believer
The Annunciation Old Believer church kept its own registers for 1886–1920.
| Church | Births | Marriages | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annunciation Church (Old Believer) | 1887–1912 | 1886–1920 | 1889–1920 |
Roman Catholic
Registers of the Roman Catholic church of St Sophia survive from 1786.
| Church | Births | Marriages | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic Church of St Sophia | 1786–1805, 1830–1831, 1835–1836, 1838–1841, 1843–1854, 1856–1860, 1863–1920 | 1798–1800, 1830–1831, 1835–1836, 1838–1854, 1856–1860, 1863–1920 | 1798–1838, 1843–1854, 1856–1860, 1863–1920 |
Lutheran
Registers of the Lutheran parish church survive for scattered years from 1900 to 1917.
| Church | Births | Marriages | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evangelical Lutheran Church (Zhitomir parish) | 1900, 1902–1910, 1912–1915, 1917 | 1904, 1908, 1912–1913, 1915, 1917 | 1900, 1902–1904, 1907–1910, 1912–1915, 1917 |
Revision lists and censuses
Revision lists (revizskie skazki) are the household lists compiled for each tax census. They name every member of a household with age and relationship, which makes them the key source for following a family back before the metrical books begin. Below are the revision lists found for Zhitomir. The town lay in Zhitomir Uezd, so the uezd-wide lists, which cover the town as well as the countryside, are included with the lists of the town itself.
Christian and general
| Year | Record |
|---|---|
| 1811 | Revision lists of the Christian and Jewish townspeople of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1816–1818 | Main and supplementary revision lists of the Jewish and Christian townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1834 | Revision lists of the Christians and Jews of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1834–1844 | Supplementary revision lists of the merchants and townspeople of Zhitomir and Berdichev (Christians and Jews) |
| 1851–1869 | Supplementary revision lists of all estates of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1858–1875 | Revision lists of the Christian townspeople of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1858–1875 | Supplementary revision lists of the Christian townspeople of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1886 | Supplementary revision lists of the Christian and Jewish townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
Jewish
| Year | Record |
|---|---|
| 1795 | Revision lists of the Jews of Zhitomir and Chudniv uezds |
| 1811 | Revision lists of the Jews of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1816 | Revision lists of the Jews of Zhitomir uezd (2 files) |
| 1834 | Revision lists of the Jews of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1834 | Revision lists of the Jews of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1850 | Revision lists of the Jews of Zhitomir uezd |
| 1850 | Revision lists of the Jewish guild townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1850 | Revision lists of the Jewish merchants and townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1850 | Revision lists of the Jewish townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
| 1858 | Revision lists of the Jewish merchants and townspeople of the town of Zhitomir |
History and genealogy
Zhitomir grew quickly under Russian rule. By 1897 it had 65,895 residents, of whom 30,572, about 46%, were Jews, and by 1913 it had about 90,700. Its Jewish community formed in the second half of the 18th century and by the end of the 19th was close to half of the town.
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Old Believer and Jewish communities lived side by side, each keeping its own registers, which is why a family’s records can be spread across several books. For families who left or were lost, the surviving archive records are often the only trace that remains.
Also found in records and indexes as: Zhytomyr, Żytomierz (Polish), Zhitomyr, Zhitomer, Schytomyr (German), Житомир.
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