Welcome!  This site is for people who are interested in the genealogy of the Seminarios and related families. 

The Seminario surname originated with an Italian family that moved to Spain in the 16th century.  One of their descendants, Martin Seminario Gandino, was born in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, Spain, and baptized in the church of Santa Maria on February 7, 1646.  He emigrated to Peru, arriving around 1673.  The families of Martin's descendants grew rapidly during the centuries that followed and lived mainly in the region of Piura, Perú.  Today, descendants of the Seminario families live all over the world, even in Jefferson, Georgia, USA.

The surnames Seminario, De Seminario and Del Seminario are uncommon in Spain, Italy and Perú.  It is likely that all, or nearly all, the Seminarios are descended from the same root.

As an aid to studying our early ancestry, this website contains information, documents and images for 251 Seminario relatives who lived between 480 and 1800.  You can find documents and available images for each person using our Search.  The lineages of these early ancestors are shown in Trees, which also have links to information for each person.  The Sources page has reference materials in support of genealogical research.

Our focus is the study and documentation of the links between the Seminario family and the noble families of Spain, Corsica, Italy and Tawantinsuyu (the Inca Empire):  the families Yupanqui, Gonzaga, Colonna, Lecca, Medici, Farfán de los Godos, Jofré, Manrique de Lara, Pizarro, and others.  Our Nobility page summarizes what we know about the links to nobility, and what we are still trying to find out. 

Our Articles page contains reports on the status of our research and related posts.  If you are interested in participating in our research projects, we recommend the article How you can help.

We are also interested in exploring the ancestry of the early Seminario spouses: the families Mora, Valladolid, Prado, Canales, Navarrete, Del Castillo, Rodriguez de Taboada, Tolosano, Céspedes, Velasco, Jaime De Los Rios, Neyra, Reinalte, Coronel, Saldivar, Valdivieso, Erique and others.

Our point of departure for studying the early ancestors is Manuel Joseph Seminario Saldivar, who was born in Lima in 1706 and died in Piura in 1794.  He and his wife Isabel Jaime de los Rios y Rodriguez de Taboada had 10 children.  Cipriano Seminario Calderón, the father of Manuel Joseph, had 11 children with Isabel Saldivar Soto y Fernandez Coronel.  Most of the Seminarios of Peru can trace their ancestry to one of these children.

If you are a Seminario descendant but do not know if Cipriano is your ancestor, do a name search on the Internet for the earliest ancestor you know, and you may find a family tree that will show your ancestry.  If that does not work, establish a free account on Geneanet.  Then do your name search, and you will probably find a page with your known ancestor's name and his or her ancestry.  As a last resort, send me a question and I'll try to help.

My name is Bob Bordier, and I am the author and administrator of the site.  It exists in both English and Spanish, though most Seminarios are Spanish speakers. The reason is that I'm an American and it's easier for me to write in English and then translate into Spanish.  Please forgive my Spanish.  It is understandable but stiff and awkward.  I sincerely appreciate any "así no se dice" messages.

If you have any questions or comments, or wish to contribute some information to the site, please email me at bob@noblezaseminario.com.  All of our contributors are mentioned on the Recognition page, unless they prefer to remain anonymous.

I am not a Seminario.  My wife is a Seminario descendant.  Her father's surnames were Carranza Seminario.  From the day I first saw her in 1988, she struck me as the most naturally noble person I've ever known, though I knew nothing of her ancestry then.
 
I began to research the genealogy of both our families in 2008 and became fascinated with the history of the Seminarios.  This site has been created to share what I have learned and encourage others to do the same.  I hope it is useful.