Alexandre-Mathieu Sureda Chappron (1815, Palma de Mallorca - 1889, Madrid[1]) was a Spanish architect. He worked under the name Alejandro Sureda and is considered "the main populariser of French architectural models amongst the Spanish aristocracy".[1]
He was the son of Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol (1769–1850) and his French wife Thérèse Louise de Sureda. He studied in the Paris studio of Henri Labrouste between 1836 and 1840.[1] After his return to Spain, he was made an architect by the Academia de San Fernando in 1850.[1] From 1851 to 1868 he held the post of deputy royal architect, only losing his post upon the Glorious Revolution.[1] Between 1871 and 1873, he was involved in the works on the Teatro Apolo in Madrid,[2] and between 1874 and 1884 he was chief architect in the redesign of the Museo del Prado, improving the interior and subdividing the Flemish and Spanish rooms.[3] Between 1857 and 1872[1] he led the restoration of the Castle of Belmonte, Cuenca by Empress Eugenia de Montijo.[3] This is the first example of restoration according to Viollet le Duc's criteria in Spain.[4]
In 1883 he began construction of a palace for the Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, marqués de Cerralbo, with later additions such as the belvedere-pavilion in 1891[5] designed by Luis Cabello Asó and his son Luis Cabello Lapiedra.[6] Better known as the museo Cerralbo, it was declared a Monumento Histórico Artístico in 1962.[7]