Umberto Eco
(b. 1932)

Considered one of Italy's most prominent novelists of the 20th century, Umberto Eco began his literary career in the 1950s. However, it was not until 1983 that he achieved worldwide fame for The Name of the Rose, his best-selling medieval mystery.

Eco, a native of Alessandria, Italy, received a doctoral degree from the University of Turin in 1954. Since then, he has been awarded more than two dozen honorary doctorates from universities in the United States and abroad. As a writer, columnist, and editor during the 1950s and 1960s, Eco was a frequent contributor to many newspapers, magazines, and periodicals. In 1971, he became the first professor of semiotics, the study of language and communication, at the University of Bologna. Throughout the 1970s, he published several books on semiotics.

Eco's essay topics range from academic theory to personal reflection. Inspired by the writings of author James Joyce, Eco has always been attracted to the medieval world.

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