Fernando de Prado Pardo-Manuel de Villena (born September 1, 1963 in San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain) is historian, writer and lecturer. He is known for having conceived and promoted the search for the identification of the remains of the writer

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...

Biography

Birth and childhood

Fernando de Prado was born on September 1, 1963 in the town of San Sebastian in a family of Spanish nobility. His father was Julio de Prado Colon de Carvajal, Conde de la Conquista (

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of the Conquest), brother of Manuel and Diego de Prado and Colon de Carvajal, descendants of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

. His mother, Isabel Pardo-Manuel de Villena Verastegui, is Baroness of Montevillena, belonged to the House of Manuel de Villena, Counts of Via Manuel. Fernando de Prado is the cousin of Borja de Prado Eulate, President of

Endesa Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...

Early life

He studied law, history and geography at the

Complutense University The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

and the University of San Pablo CEU. He graduated in genealogy, heraldry and nobility by the Marquis de Aviles School of the Association of Graduates in Genealogy, Heraldry and Nobility, of which he later became director. He achieved a master's degree in protocol and business relations by the European Institute of Health and Welfare of Madrid.

Later life

In 1991 he was a member of the scientific committee of inquiry, later its coordinator, for the exhibition "May 2, 1808", Exhibition that formed part of the events of Madrid Cultural Capital in 1992. Later he was technical commissioner of the exhibition "The Universities of Madrid", also for the Cultural Capital. For several years he worked as a guide for dignitaries and advisor of the Army Museum in Madrid. He also worked as deputy director of Actas Publishing and deputy director of the Trebol distributor. At last he was the director and promoter of the project search and identification of the remains of

. Currently he develops cultural and other cooperation projects with foreign companies in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Published works

* ''Catalogue of doctoral thesis on geography and history conserved in the archives of the Complutense University of Madrid'' :1900-1987 Alfonso Bullón de Mendoza (Director) * ''Secret societies in Spain'' León Arsenal e Hipólito Sanchiz (Colaborador)2006 * ''Corners of the Spanish history'' con León Arsenal 2007 * ''Heads of nobility : origen and secrets of the spanish aristocracy'' 2008

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

*''Knight Commander of the Order of

Alfonso X the Wise Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

'' (Cross, 2015) *''Laurel Platinium'' (Award, 2014)Vanity Fair
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Bibliography

* Article by Ashifa Kassam

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, April 25, 201

* Article by Raphael Minder

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

,March 11, 201

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prado, Fernando de 1963 births Living people 20th-century Spanish historians Complutense University of Madrid alumni 21st-century Spanish historians