Giovanni Giovale

b. November 1885, Catania, Sicily, Italy
d. June 11, 1949, Catania, Sicily, Italy
Composer and musician. He is considered one of the greatest mandolin virtuosos of all time. He also played guitar, banjo, and violin. He is one of the few Italian mandolin maestros to be recorded. He has also been credited for making famous the duo style of mandolin playing, in which one instrument sounds like two. He wrote many works for mandolin, mostly polkas, waltzes and mazurkas.

He was an internationally travelling performer, performing in Spain, Africa, England, Austria and the United States. While in the United States, from 1926 to 1929, he recorded more than 50 sides. After three years in the U.S., he missed his home and moved back to Italy. He was planning to return when he died in 1949.