The book and document collection of Cristiano Férin will become part of the Ponta Delgada Public Library and Regional Archive's collection under the terms a contract for future donation that was recently signed with his heirs. The collection comprises the areas of genealogy, heraldry and island-related themes.

Furthermore, this collection reflects the research carried out by Cristiano Férin throughout his life as well as information on genealogies from São Miguel and unpublished extracts from parish and notarial records.

Cristiano Férin was born on September 30, 1916 and died on December 18, 2011. He worked as a meteorologist and seismologist at various locations in the Azores and participated in several missions abroad.

This distinguished São Miguel islander ended his career as a geophysicist analyst of INMG at the Afonso Chaves Observatory. He completed his bachelor degree during his adult life.

Cristiano Férin had a great interest in genealogy and heraldry, which was evidenced in the careful research in all island-related themes. He applied his scientific spirit to the research he made as well as to the hermeneutics and heuristics of document sources.

In this context, he showed a great concern in the reconstruction of information on families ties and heritage through comparison and complementarity; he has never hesitated to question information taken for granted.

Cristiano Férin dedicated, with remarkable persistence, much of his genealogical studies to the collection of information and the recovery of document sources that enabled him to research the family ties between the Homem da Costa family from Santo António-além-Capelas - the settlers mentioned by Gaspar Frutuoso - and their origins in Mainland Portugal.
 
As a member of the Afonso Chaves Society; he was responsible for the preparation of the index of the society's magazine: "Açoreana." Furthermore, he was a member of the Board of "Santa da Misericórdia" of Ponta Delgada and a member of the Ponta Delgada Cultural Institute, Portuguese Heraldry Institute and the Portuguese Genealogy Association. He was also a member of the Friends of Torre do Tombo Association.

Throughout his life, Cristiano Férin published several works, including "“Dr. António de Albuquerque Jácome Corrêa: 1922-1996," “Extractos do registo de casamentos da paróquia de Ribeira Seca, Ribeira Grande: 1577-1675” (Extracts from marriage records of the parish of Ribeira Seca, Ribeira Grande: 1577-1675) and “Extractos do registo de casamentos da paróquia de Relva: 1673-1800” (Extracts from marriage records of the parish of Relva: 1673-1800). He also collaborated in various issues published by the Ponta Delgada Cultural Institute.

The technical treatment of Cristiano Férin's collection will start in 2013; however, the delivery notes of the book and document collections are already available. The estate includes his papers as well as the family and personal documents of Cristiano Férin and his ancestors, especially those related to commercial and consular activities.