Marie-Sol de La Tour d'Auvergne

Marie-Sol de La Tour d'Auvergne served as President of French Heritage Society from 1992 to 2008. She is now President Emeritus and has been actively involved with the organization since its inception. She is currently Vice-President for the Fondation des Parcs et Jardins de France where she works to promote French historic parks and gardens both within the country and abroad, most recently in Russia.

She is currently Vice-President of the Route Jacques Coeur which promotes tourism to the Berry region and Founding President and Board member of the L'Association des Parcs et Jardins de la Région Centre. Marie-Sol was a member of the commission which classifies dwellings and sites in the central region of France. She studied Art History in Rome and at the Ecole du Louvre, as well as Chinese at the School of Oriental Languages in Paris. In connection with her interest in cultural heritage and garden preservation, she has traveled in Asia, North Africa, South America, and Russia and she has lectured extensively in the United States and her native France.

A member of the distinguished d'Aligny family, she spent her childhood with her large household at its ancestral Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil, in the Cher region in central France. The care and maintenance of the 13th-century château and its splendid gardens have been a lifelong undertaking for Marie-Sol. She created the château's gardens, including a rose garden, as well as overseeing the development of festivals and exhibits at the château.

In acknowledgement of her lifetime commitment to the French heritage, she received the decoration of Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur in 2007. She has also received l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.