Dante Gianello (1912-1992) was a well known and reliably successful professional cyclist from 1935 to 1945. He was born in Sicily, but moved to France and became a French national. Following World War II he appears to have been involved in a cycle business in Cannes, France. He registered three patents for derailleur systems in the late 1940s and had one of his designs featured in Le Cycle magazine.

His particular interest appears to have been in designing low profile rear derailleurs that could be used with extensive chainguards. The aim was to make derailleur bikes more accessible to regular riders. Given the fashion, on the promenades of Cannes, for voluminous white trousers, this seems like a reasonable concern.