Whose were the "best minds" being destroyed in Ginsberg's "Howl"?

Question

In Allen Ginsberg´s most famous poem "Howl", he claims he was witness to the destruction of the best minds of his generation: > I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, Who were the best minds of his generation? Who was he referring to?

Answer 1

Ginsberg dedicated the poem to his friend Carl Solomon, who spent time in a mental institution. Perhaps Ginsberg here is alluding to Solomon, or the other patients.

Perhaps these "great minds" are unknown to us because their minds met "destruction" before they produced anything to prove their greatness.