Isabel de Ceballos-Escalera

Isabel de Ceballos-Escalera y Contreras (Segovia, May 29, 1919 - Madrid, March 29, 1990) was a Spanish museum director and curator. She was deputy director of the Museo del Prado and director of the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, and a member of the Hispanic Society of America. A laureate of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise, she is considered one of the world's great specialists in Spanish ceramics.

Biography She was born in Segovia on May 29, 1919, occupying her position in several field hospitals, work that earned her the distinction of several military crosses. She was an interim official of the CFABA (Corps of Archivists, Librarians and Archaeologists) since 1942, being assigned to the Biblioteca Nacional de España and the National Archaeological Museum (MAN).

In 1943, she obtained a degree in Philosophy and Letters (History section) from the Universidad Central de Madrid (now, Complutense University of Madrid). A year later, in 1944, she won the opposition to the CFABA official, successively occupying the positions of curator of the Cerralbo Museum (1944), director of the (1945-1946), curator of the MAN (1946-1971), curator of the Prado Museum (1971-1974) and, finally, curator, deputy director (1975) and director (1983) of the National Museum of Decorative Arts (1974-1989), retiring that same year. Simultaneously, she served as director of the National Museum of Public Administration (1961-1989), and of the Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes (1968-1989), both located in Alcalá de Henares.

She actively participated in some archaeological campaigns. Between 1945 and 1949, in the Visigothic Necropolis of Duratón (Segovia), in El Puente del Arzobispo (Toledo) in 1952, in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) in 1973, and also in the Roman site of Complutum (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid). Segovia Monumental. Madrid. Plus Ultra (1953) Catálogo del legado Fernández-Durán (artes decorativas) en el Museo del Prado. Madrid (1974) El Marqués de Lozoya. Semblanzas y bibliografía. Madrid. Fundación Universitaria Española (1985) Edición de las Memorias (1893-1923) de Juan de Contreras y López de Ayala, marqués de Lozoya. Segovia. Ed. Torreón de la Marquesa (1992)