Umberto Eco

Born: 5 January 1932 Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy

Died: living

Biography: Umberto Eco is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, andnovelist. He is best known for his groundbreaking 1980 historical mystery novel Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose), an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. He has since written further novels, including Il pendolo di Foucault (Foucault´s Pendulum) and L´isola del giorno prima (The Island of the Day Before). His novelIl cimitero di Praga (The Prague Cemetery), released in 2010, was a best-seller. Eco has also written academic texts, children´s books and many essays. He is founder of the Dipartimento di Comunicazione(Department of Media Studies) at the University of the Republic of San Marino, President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici(Graduate School for the Study of the Humanities), University of Bologna, member of the Accademia dei Lincei (since November 2010), and an Honorary Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford.