Achille-Antoine Hermitte was a French architect who is known for designing the Hong Kong City Hall and the Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon. His life is not well-documented and there is uncertainty about the date and place of his death. His only surviving building is the small Chapel of the Tomb of St Francis Xavier on St. John's Island, southwest of Canton (Guangzhou).

Pierre Paul Marie Benoît de La Grandière was a French admiral who was Governor of the colony of Cochinchina from 1863 to 1868. He consolidated French control over Vietnam, and developed the city of Saigon as a major port.