Who we are

Founder

Michael Marks (Lord Marks, second Baron of Broughton; 1920-1998) was the grandson of the founder of the retail chain Marks and Spencer. After WW2 in which he served in transmissions, he graduated from Cambridge with a degree in languages and became a painter, writer and philanthropist. 

In 1966 he founded The Michael Marks Charitable Trust in order to better support the preservation and promotion of culture and the environment – his two main concerns. Lord Marks was succeeded as Chairman by his wife Marina in 1997.

Chairman

Marina Marks (Marina, Lady Marks the dowager Baroness Broughton, PhD OMKM) née Marina Sakali, is a Trustee since 1992 and was appointed Chairman in 1997. In addition, she is Vice-Chairman of the Council of The Hellenic Centre in London and Vice-Chairman of the Trustees of the Harvard Centre for Hellenic Studies. She is also the patron of various charities.

Marina Marks holds a PhD in History from SOAS University of London. For her charitable work, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knights of Malta in 1996 and the Grand Order of Merit in 2000. In 1997, she was Woman of the Year in Great Britain for her charitable work and in 2003 she was honoured with the St Paul’s Cross of the Metropolitan of Veria, Church of Greece for her philanthropic work.

Trustee

Professor Sir Christopher White is a British art historian and curator. From 1973, he was Director of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, an affiliate of Yale in London, and also an associate director of the Yale Centre for British Art. In 1985 he left these to become Director of the Ashmolean Museum and a fellow of Worcester College.

He is a former Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Institute of Florence and the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and a former member of the Burlington Magazine board. He was knighted in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to art history.

Trustee

Noël Annesley is Honorary Chairman of Christie’s Fine Art Auctioneers and a specialist in Old Master and British drawings.

He was educated at Harrow School and Worcester College, Oxford where he earned an MA in Classics. He began working for Christie’s in 1964 and continues to serve as a consultant. He was Deputy Chairman of Christie’s International PLC from 1992-2000. He was also Deputy Chairman of the Trustees of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and a Governor of the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Secretary

Alex Sakalis is Secretary of the Michael Marks Charitable Trust.