Maria Ruspoli, Duchess of Gramont (Italian-French, 1888-1976) was an Italian princess who married the Duc de Gramont in 1907 at the age of nineteen. Upon the death of her husband in 1925, she inherited his large fortune and used it to refurbish Castello di Vigoleno, which she had bought for herself in 1922. She was known to host lavish parties for the Paris bohemians, and her guests often included Dadaists and Surrealists. In 1935, she married François Hugo, great-grandson of Victor Hugo, which made her the sister-in-law of Valentine Hugo, another sitter in the exhibition. In 1945, after moving to New York, she founded the Hugo Gallery, which focused on Surrealist art. She divorced Hugo in 1947 and returned to France, where she lived the remainder of her life.