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.^[1]

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.

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).