Sociologist, anthropologist and writer, Gilberto de Mello Freyre was born in Recife, Pernambuco, on 15 March 1900, on the old Aflitos Road (nowadays Rosa e Silva Avenue), to professor and judge Alfredo Freyre and Francisca de Mello Freyre.

Luiz Pinto Ferreira was born on 7 October 1918, in Recife, Pernambuco, to Alfredo Pinto Ferreira and Maria Regina Pinto Ferreira.