Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Silvia Z. Mitchell is a historian of Renaissance and early modern European history, queenship, and Habsburg and royal court studies. Based on substantial archival research, Professor Mitchell’s work is written in a clear and accessible style to the general reader. She has published extensively on the reign of Carlos II of Spain (r. 1665-1700) and is an expert on his mother, Queen Mariana of Austria (1634 Vienna – 1696 Madrid), a critical figure in the history of Spain and Europe. Her book, Queen, Mother, and Stateswoman: Mariana of Austria and the Government of Spain (Penn State University, 2019, paperback 2020) is simultaneously a political biography of Queen Mariana of Austria and an analysis of the role of Spain in European international politics. The Spanish edition was published in a fully illustrated and extended edition (2023) by the Centro de Estudios de Europa Hispánica in their prestigious series The Habsburgs. She is currently preparing a history on “The Spanish Habsburgs, 1500-1700: The Men and the Women that Ruled the First Global Empire of the World” and a co-authored biography of the Spanish-born Queen of France, Marie-Thèrese of Austria (1638-1683), who has lived in the historical shadows of her famous husband, Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715). 

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Professor Mitchell completed all her academic training in the U.S., first at Florida International University and then at the University of Miami, where she was awarded her Ph.D. in 2013. She has been on the faculty of Purdue University in the Department of History since 2013, was promoted to Associated Professor in 2020, and was named University Faculty Scholar in 2022 in recognition of her accelerated path to academic distinction. She is a currently (2023-2024) a member of the group CINTER at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid.

Professor Mitchell has been invited to lecture on her areas of expertise at recognized institutions such as the Prado Museum (Madrid), the Newberry Library (Chicago), the Central European University (Budapest), the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, and the University of Vienna.