San Galli was born either in Stettin or Kammin[1] (where his father Carl Sangalli, a royal tax officer worked), in Prussian Pomerania.

He spent most of his life in St. Petersburg (Russia's capital at the time), where he ran his business and developed his inventions.

San Galli started his own business in 1853 in St. Petersburg as a small mechanical workshop at 46 Ligovsky Kanal with 12 employees and a commercial outlet at 60 Nevsky Prospect.

Even at early stage of his career he did have a diverse productive capacity and trade to pursue new business opportunities.

Nason's patent for tapered pipe threads in particular is cited by 1930s writer Ara Marcus Daniels as the key development in the birth of the radiator.