Enriqueta Harris

Enriqueta Harris Frankfort (17 May 1910 — 22 April 2006) was a British art historian and writer who specialised in Spanish art. Born into a family with an English father and a Spanish mother, she attended University College London to read modern languages and later studied a Doctor of Philosophy art degree under Tancred Borenius. Harris travelled to Spain to research Caravaggio's influence on 17th-century Spanish paintings and her first book was published in 1938. She billeted Basque child refugees during the Spanish Civil War and worked with the Ministry of Information to keep Spain neutral during World War II. After the war ended she worked in the Warburg Institute and was offered the post in their photographic collection in 1947. Harris worked there until her retirement albeit for two years when she was married to the institution's director Henri Frankfort. Her work on Spanish paintings earned her widespread recognition in the country and received multiple awards and honours.

Biography

Early life Enriqueta Harris Frankfort was born on 17 May 1910 in Hampstead, London. Her father, Lionel Harris, was an English art dealer specialising in Spanish paintings, and her mother, Enriqueta Rodriguez, was a Spanish woman who converted to Judaism to marry him. Harris was raised as a Jew, She attended University College London in 1928 to read the Italian and French languages. Harris was one of the university's first students to enrol in art history courses that were introduced in the curriculum in her second year.