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Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (March 4, 1898 – October 11, 1986) was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology. He was a professor at Istanbul University, École pratique des hautes études and the Collège de France, and a member of the Académie Française. Dumézil is well known for his formulation of the trifunctional hypothesis on Proto-Indo-European mythology and society.

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (March 4, 1901 or 1903 – June 22, 1937), born Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo, was a Malagasy poet who is widely considered to be Africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of Madagascar. Part of the first Malagasy generation raised under French colonization, Rabearivelo grew up impoverished and failed to complete secondary education. His passion for French literature and traditional Malagasy oral poetry (hainteny) prompted him to read extensively and educate himself on a variety of subjects. He published numerous poetry anthologies in French and Malagasy as well as literary critiques, an opera, and two novels. The Government of Madagascar named Rabearivelo the national poet upon the establishment of national independence in 1960.