Henry Melich was born in Czechoslovakia in 1924. He lived in London for a number of years where he was classically trained before relocating to the Bahamas in 1954 where he began his extensive work around the archipelago. While based in the Bahamas for the remainder of his life, his work extended to Jamaica, the United States, and England. The book "Island Follies" by Alaistar Gordon highlights Melich's residential work in the Bahamas. His work is a celebration of Bahamian architecture, as well as embracing a neo-historical hybrid of architectural styles. Many of the homes he designed were luxury vacation homes for the elite, notably for Prince and Princess Azamat Guirey. Melich completed over 50 projects before his death in 1999.
Natasha Mella (1927-2014) was the only daughter of 1920s Communist leader, Julio Antonio Mella (1903-1929), who founded the Primer Partido Comunista Cubano in 1925. Natasha Mella was an intellectual and for two years, a Cuban diplomat as part of the Departamento de Asuntos Asiáticos del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, appointed by Roberto Agramonte in 1959. However, Mella left Cuba in 1961 as an exile with her husband and the family settled in Miami, where she continued to publish essays, editorials and radio scripts on Cuban politics and history.
