Lucette Descaves was a French pianist and music teacher. She was born in Paris on April 1, 1906, and died on April 15, 1993, in Versailles.
She was born into an artistic family. Her father, Eugene Descaves, was an art collector and a friend of Joris-Karl Huysmans. Her uncle, Lucien Descaves, was a well-known writer, and her godfather was the composer Camille Saint-Saens.
Descaves graduated from the Paris Conservatory, where she studied with Marguerite Long and Yves Nat. At the same time, she was to a significant extent a pupil and continuator of Maurice Ravel's tradition.
She gave the first performance of Andre Jolivet's piano concerto and premiered many piano pieces by Arthur Honegger. From 1941 she taught at the Paris Conservatory. Her students included Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Brigitte Engerer, Olivier Greif, and the Labèque sisters.