Giuseppe Reale was born in 1852, the son of a piano and organ builder. In 1880 he has founded one of the largest Italian factories for manufacturing bowed and plucked string instruments. After 1906 the firm name appears as 'G. Puglisi Reale i Figlio'. (Figlio; sons in Italian). His 2 sons, were Concetto and Michelangelo. Michelangelo Puglisi ran the workshop successfully after 1909 and his son Salvatore Puglisi was also involved in the family business. They were makers of fine violins, bows, strings, guitars, mandolins and unique cellos.

Unfortunately the factory was destroyed during bombing in WWII (1943). Although it was rebuilt and some noted instruments were built after this time, many of the original Puglisi family subsequently migrated from Sicily to the USA, Canada, and Australia. After Salvatore`s death his son-in-law Buccheri Puglisi took over the factory. Before he died, he gave all the factory's tools to Alfredo Privitera, who established the Privitera Company in 1962, which makes instruments similar to those of Puglisi. The Privitera factory still exists in Catania and is located on "Via Scuto Costarelli".

(Many thanks to Plamen Ivanov, Bulgaria, for this information, via Mandolin Cafe.)