u/Mastermiine

Trying to determine whether my Italian citizenship line was broken through my father’s mother’s side due to derivative U.S. citizenship through an American-born mother. This case involves pre-1948 / pre-1992 citizenship law and I’m hoping someone familiar with complex jure sanguinis cases may have insight.

Generation A (Great-Great-Grandparents)

• Born in Italy.
• Emigrated to the United States.
• Had a daughter born in Illinois in 1919.

Generation B (Great-Grandparents)

• Great-grandmother:
  • Born in Illinois in 1919 to Italian parents.
  • Later lived in Cefalù, Sicily.
  • Held an Italian ID card listing nationality as Italian.
• Great-grandfather:
  • Born in Italy in 1913.
  • Married great-grandmother in Italy in 1938.
  • Immigrated to the United States in 1947.
  • Naturalized in the United States in 1952.

Generation C (Grandmother)

• Born in Cefalù, Sicily in 1939 to Generation B.
• U.S. records later list her as “naturalized through mother.”
• Later registered to vote in California in 1966.
• I cannot find evidence she independently naturalized as an adult.

Generation D (My Parents)

• My father was born in the United States after Generation C was already living in America.

Important detail:
My great-grandmother appears to have simultaneously been recognized as:

• a U.S. citizen by birth, and
• an Italian citizen by Italian authorities.

My main question is:

Would Generation C’s derivative acquisition of U.S. citizenship through her American-born mother automatically have caused loss of Italian citizenship under the laws at that time?

Or is there still potentially a jure sanguinis argument because:

• the mother retained/was recognized as Italian,
• Generation C was born in Italy,
• and Generation C never appears to have independently naturalized as an adult?

I understand this may ultimately require an attorney or court interpretation, but I’m curious whether anyone has encountered a similar derivative-citizenship situation.