Meet André Colin, your genealogy researcher in France

A local researcher for your French family history

Perhaps your research stops with an immigrant ancestor. Perhaps a document names an unfamiliar village, or records point to both France and Germany. Or perhaps you have names and dates but want to understand the people behind them.

I’m André Colin, founder of Genesia and a genealogy researcher based in Belfort, France. I help families, including American descendants of French immigrants, investigate their French roots through archival records, careful analysis, and a clear explanation of the evidence.

A rusty box—and more than 20 years of family history research

My interest in genealogy began with a discovery in an attic: a rusty metal box filled with old photographs and letters.

Those fragments raised questions. Who were these people? What had their lives been like? What had been remembered—and what had been lost?

That discovery began a passion that has stayed with me for more than 20 years. Since then, I have explored archives, deciphered handwritten documents, and pieced together family histories that might otherwise have remained forgotten.

What still matters most to me is the connection between the research and the people it serves: helping a family recognize an ancestor as a person, not just another name on a chart.

Reading the records behind the names

My work brings together genealogy research and paleography—the reading and transcription of historical handwriting—in French, German, and Latin. I also have experience working with land, notarial, and military records to investigate questions that birth, marriage, and death records alone may not resolve.

I have a particular interest in challenging family lines and in helping international clients reconnect with their origins in France. My regional knowledge of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté supports the investigation of local sources and their historical context.