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Johann Ernst Hanxleden, also known as Arnos Pathiri, was a German Jesuit priest and missionary, best known for his contributions as a Malayalam and Sanskrit poet, grammarian, lexicographer, and philologist. He was born in Lower Saxony, and whilst studying philosophy met a Jesuit priest. This led to Hanxleden volunteering to become a Jesuit missionary in the Malabar region of India. He travelled overland to India, a journey of 14 months, reaching Gujarat in December 1700. He completed his novitiate in Goa and then went to a Seminary at Sampaloor, Thrissur District, Kerala. He learnt Malayalam and the liturgical Syriac and was ordained as a priest in 1706.

After moving to Palayoor, Hanxleden studied Sanskrit and improved his Malayalam, learning under the tutelage of Namboodiri scholars such as Kunjan and Krishnan from Angamaly and Thekkemadom from Thrissur. From 1707 to 1711, he served as secretary to John Ribeiro, the then Archbishop of Cranganore. It is recorded that he also served as the vicar of the main church in Malabar. Later, he moved to Velur, Thrissur, in 1712 and built the Velur Forane Church. From 1729 onward, he spent his time between Velur, Sampaloor, Palayoor and Pazhuvil and it was at Pazhuvil he suffered a snake bite which resulted in his death on 20 March 1732, at the age of 51. He was buried there but, later, when a memorial was built outside the church, his mortal remains were transferred to it; the memorial also houses a historical museum.

Besides composing the Puthen Pana, Hanxleden created the first Malayalam dictionary, as well as grammar books and other devotional material.

Lionel David Barnett was an English orientalist. He was educated at University College, Liverpool, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first class degree in classics. In 1899, he joined the British Museum as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts. In 1908 he became Keeper, remaining in the post until his retirement in 1936. He was also Professor of Sanskrit at University College, London, from 1906 to 1917; founding Lecturer in Sanskrit at the School of Oriental Studies (1917–1948); Lecturer in Ancient Indian History and Epigraphy (1922–1948); and Librarian of the School (1940–1947). In 1948, at the age of 77, he rejoined the British Museum, which was desperately short of staff, as an Assistant Keeper, remaining there until his death in 1960.

David Samuel Margoliouth was born in London in 1858. He was educated at Winchester and Oxford where he graduated with a Double First and a significant number of prizes. He was appointed to the Laudian Chair in Arabic, Oxford University, in 1889, a position he held until he retired, from ill health, in 1937. He wrote many works on the history of Islam and translated and edited Arabic poetry. He was the recipient of the Society's Triennial Gold Medal in 1928, and served on the Council and as Vice-President, President and Director of the Society.

Heinrich Julius Klaproth was born in Berlin and studied at the Halle University. Klaproth studied Asiatic languages, and published in 1802 his Asiatisches Magazin (Weimar 1802–1803). He was called to St. Petersburg and given an appointment in the academy there and in 1805 he was a member of Count Golovkin's embassy to China. On his return he was despatched by the academy to the Caucasus on an ethnographical and linguistic exploration (1807–1808), and was afterwards employed for several years in connection with the academy's Oriental publications. In 1812 he moved back to Berlin.

In 1815 he settled in Paris, and in 1816 Humboldt procured for him, from the king of Prussia, the title and salary of Professor of Asiatic languages and literature, with permission to remain in Paris as long as was requisite for the publication of his works He died in Paris on 28 August 1835.

William Woodville Rockhill was an American diplomat, author, and scholar of Chinese and, in particular, Tibetan studies. He served as United States Ambassador to Greece, Serbia, Romania, China, and Russia, and was known for helping to formulate the Open Door policy toward China advanced by the United States in the late 19th century. He became a member of the Society in 1882 and published an article on the geography, ethnography, and history of Tibet in the JRAS in 1891.

The Toyo Bunko, or The Oriental Library, is Japan's oldest research library dedicated to Asian studies. It was established in 1924 by Hisaya Iwasaki, the third president of the Mitsubishi.

The Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1871 from the merger between the Ethnological Society and the Anthropological Society. Permission to add the word 'Royal' was granted in 1907. The RAI exists to promote the public understanding of anthropology, as well as the contribution anthropology can make to public affairs and social issues. It includes within its constituency not only academic anthropologists, but also those with a general interest in the subject, and those trained in anthropology who work in other fields.

Sir Harry Smith Parkes was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese Qing Empire from 1883 to 1885, and Minister to Korea in 1884. He was a Corresponding Member of the Society from 1854, and later a Non-Resident Member. He was also for some time the President of the Asiatic Society of Japan.

A biography of Sir Harry Smith Parkes was included in the proceedings of the Anniversary General Meeting on 18 May 1855, published in JRAS, Volume 17, Issue 3, July 1885.