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The Most ExcellentFernando de Silva12th Duke of Alba GE
Portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1749
Chief Minister of Spain
In office 9 April 1754 – 15 May 1754
Monarch	Ferdinand VI
Preceded by	José de Carvajal y Lancáster
Succeeded by	Ricardo Wall
Seat O of the Real Academia Española
In office 17 April 1754 – 15 November 1776
Preceded by	José de Carvajal y Lancáster
Succeeded by	José Joaquín de Silva-Bazán
Director of the Real Academia Española
In office 17 April 1754 – 15 November 1776
Preceded by	José de Carvajal y Lancáster
Succeeded by	José Joaquín de Silva-Bazán
Personal details
Born	Fernando de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo 27 October 1714 Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	15 November 1776(1776-11-15) (aged 62) Madrid, Spain

Fernando de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 12th Duke of Alba (27 October 1714 – 15 November 1776), was a Spanish politician and general who was Prime Minister of Spain in 1754.

Biography

Better known as the Duke of Huéscar, Fernando de Silva was a man of the Enlightenment and friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was Spanish ambassador to France between 1746 and 1749. On 8 November 1753 he was appointed Mayordomo mayor and chief of the Royal Household and, on 9 April 1754 he was made director of the Real Academia Española, a function he held until his death in 1776.

He was also Chief Minister of Spain between 9 April and 15 May 1754. As Duke of Alba, he was succeeded by his granddaughter María del Pilar de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, who was a friend of Francisco de Goya, who visited their villa on several occasions and painted there in 1786 El verano and La vendimia.

Descendants

He had married Ana María Alvarez de Toledo y de Portugal, (1710–1738), daughter of the 9th Count of Oropesa. They had one son, who pre-deceased his father:

• Francisco de Paula de Silva Mendoza y Toledo, 10th Duke of Huéscar, (1733–1770) who had one daughter.
  • María del Pilar de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba (1762–1802).

Ancestry

Notes

1. in full, Spanish: Don Fernando de Silva Mendoza y Álvarez de Toledo, décimo segundo duque de Alba de Tormes, noveno duque de Huéscar, quinto duque de Montoro, séptimo conde-duque de Olivares, décimo marqués del Carpio, décimo segundo marqués de Coria, octavo marqués de Eliche, décimo primer marqués de Villanueva del Río, quinto marqués de Tarazona, décimo conde de Monterrey, décimo tercer conde de Lerín, décimo tercer Condestable de Navarra, décimo primer conde de Galve, décimo tercer conde de Osorno, de jure duque de Galisteo, décimo conde de Ayala, octavo conde de Fuentes de Valdepero, señor del estado de Valdecorneja, señor de las baronías de Dicastillo, San Martín, Curton y Guissens

Sources

• Hobbs, Nicolas (2007). "Grandes de España" (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2008.
• Instituto de Salazar y Castro. Elenco de Grandezas y Titulos Nobiliarios Españoles (in Spanish). periodic publication.
• "DUQUES DE ALBA: Genealogía" (in Spanish). 2007. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
• "Geneall.net" (in Spanish). 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2008.

• 1714 births
• 1776 deaths
• Dukes of Alba
• Dukes of Huéscar
• Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
• Knights of Calatrava
• House of Alba
• Álvarez de Toledo family
• Members of the Royal Spanish Academy
• Spanish generals
• Government ministers of Spain
• Grandees of Spain
• Marquesses of Carpio
• 18th-century Spanish nobility
• Ambassadors of Spain to France