Beatrice Eileen de Cardi was born in London in 1914, educated at St. Paul's School and University College, London, studying archaeology under Sir Mortimer Wheeler. n 1936, after graduating, she was offered a position as Wheeler's secretary at the London Museum, where he held the position of Keeper. She later became his assistant. During World War II de Cardi worked for the Allied Supplies Executive of the War Cabinet in China, often visiting India within her role. After the war, she became Britain's Assistant Trade Commissioner in Karachi, Delhi, and Lahore and carried out archaeological excavations in these areas. She continued to be involved in excavations working also in the Middle East and in 1973 was awarded an OBE for services to archaeology.
David Llewellyn Snodgrove was born in Hampshire and educated at Christ's Hospital, Horsham, and Southampton University. Snodgrove served in the Royal Engineers in the Second World War from 1941, being posted to India in 1943. A few months after beginning his posting he contracted malaria and was sent to the military hospital at Lebong, just north of Darjeeling. It was while he was at Lebong that he purchased some books about Tibet which sparked his interest in the country. After the war, unable to find any university that would teach Tibetan, he gained entry to Queens' College, Cambridge to study Sanskrit and Pali. In 1950, he began teaching Tibetan at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he remained until his retirement in 1982. Snellgrove's research subsequent to his retirement was focused increasingly upon the art history of South East Asia, spending half his year in Cambodia and the other half in Italy. He died in Italy in 2016.