Giovanni Gremoli was born on 30 June 1926 in Poppi (Arezzo) in Italy, the second of six children, and grew up on his family's large farm.
He then specialized in missiology and obtained a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome.
To improve his English which was essential for his task, he spent some weeks in Ireland before his episcopal ordination in Florence on 22 February 1976.
On 21 March 1976, Gremoli arrived in Abu Dhabi, which after the expulsion of the mission personnel from Aden, had become the official residence of the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia.
[4] He remained for 29 years as Bishop of the world's largest jurisdiction until he returned to Italy for his retirement on 22 May 2005.