Umberto Eco (1932–2016)
Author of The Name of the Rose
About the Author
Umberto Eco was born in Alessandria, Italy on January 5, 1932. He received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954. His first book, Il Problema Estetico in San Tommaso, was an extension of his doctoral thesis on St. Thomas Aquinas and was published in 1956. His first novel, show more The Name of the Rose, was published in 1980 and won the Premio Strega and the Premio Anghiar awards in 1981. In 1986, it was adapted into a movie starring Sean Connery. His other works include Foucault's Pendulum, The Island of the Day Before, Baudolino, The Prague Cemetery, and Numero Zero. He also wrote children's books and more than 20 nonfiction books including Serendipities: Language and Lunacy. He taught philosophy and then semiotics at the University of Bologna. He also wrote weekly columns on popular culture and politics for L'Espresso. He died from cancer on February 19, 2016 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Umberto Eco
La Edad Media, II. Catedrales, caballeros y ciudades (Historia / History) (Spanish Edition) (2005) 34 copies
La Edad Media, III. Castillos, mercaderes y poetas (Historia / History) (Spanish Edition) (2011) 30 copies
The People's Comic Book: Red Women's Detachment, Hot on the Trail, and Other Chinese Comics (1971) 25 copies
Povero Pinocchio: Giochi linguistici di studenti del Corso di comunicazione (Libri di Comix) (Italian Edition) (1995) 15 copies
The Bond Affair — Editor — 7 copies
Ur-FAscism 6 copies
Da dove si comincia? 5 copies
Ecrits sur la pensée au Moyen Âge: essais traduits de l'italien par Myriem Bouzaher, Maurice Javion,… (2016) 5 copies
Felsefe Tarihi 1 4 copies
Trent'anni di costume: parte prima 4 copies
Riflessioni sulla bibliofilia 4 copies
L'Era della Comunicazione 3 copies
Der Name der Rose 3 copies
Trent'anni di costume: parte seconda 3 copies
Costumi di casa 2 copies
Entwicklungsperspektiven der Unternehmensfrung und ihrer Berichterstattung : Festschrift f Helmut Kuhnle anlslich… (2006) 2 copies
LA GRANDE STORIA. L'ANTICHITA'. LE CIVILTA' DEL VICINO ORIENTE. STORIA POLITICA, ECONOMICA E SOCIALE.… (2011) 2 copies
Reazionari e moderati 2 copies
L'antichità 4: Grecia - Storia politica, economica e sociale** — Author — 2 copies
Antichità - Il Vicino Oriente – Storia: Storia della Civiltà Europea a cura di Umberto Eco - 1 (2014) 2 copies
Vero, falso, segreto, finto 2 copies
L'antichità 2 copies
7: Tra Ottocento e Novecento 2 copies
L'ANTICHITA' N. 5 Grecia 2 copies
Informazione: consenso e dissenso 2 copies
Carmi 2 copies
Le ragioni della retorica: atti del Convegno Retorica: verità, opinione, persuasione: Cattolica, 22 febbraio-20 aprile… (1986) 2 copies
前日島 (下) 1 copy
Feeding Wild Birds 1 copy
Triumph des Barock 1 copy
Teorie dell'architettura 1 copy
Tree Planting 1 copy
La guerre du faux - traduit de l'italien par Myriam Tanant, avec la collaboration de Piero Caracciolo (1986) 1 copy
Pilotnumurs 1 copy
前日島 (上) 1 copy
バウドリーノ(上) (岩波文庫) 1 copy
ヌメロ・ゼロ (河出文庫 エ 3-1) 1 copy
Psicologia do vestir 1 copy
バウドリーノ(下) (岩波文庫) 1 copy
L'Antichità - Roma 1 copy
L'Antichità - Grecia 1 copy
Η Αποκάλυψη του Ιωάννη 1 copy
Tratado Geral da Semiótica 1 copy
Ortacagi Düşlemek 1 copy
PER LETERSINE 1 copy
Istoria uratului 1 copy
Du 519: Die Fünfzigerjahre 1 copy
Razgovor o kraju vremena 1 copy
Ecrivains Du Brésil 1 copy
ensaios sobre a literatura 1 copy
Narratologia 1 copy
Narratologia 1 copy
Le Figure del Tempo. 1 copy
A Indústria da Cultura 1 copy
In cautarea limbii perfecte 1 copy
Il complotto 1 copy
O Nome da Rosa - Altaya 1 copy
Il ruolo dell'intellettuale 1 copy
Për foto të bëra mureve 1 copy
آليات الكتابة السردية 1 copy
MC-106 A Escolha do Tema 1 copy
Middelalderens genkomst 1 copy
2001 1 copy
Kleine kroniek 1 copy
Trent'anni di costume 1 copy
Umberto Eco: Der Name Der Rose, Literarische Hermeneutik, Die Insel Des Vorigen Tages, Baudolino, Das Foucaultsche… (2010) 1 copy
Encyclomedia 1 copy
Eco Umberto 1 copy
L'Antichità - 4 Grecia 1 copy
Due chiacchiere fra barbari 1 copy
Una tromba sulle colline 1 copy
Umberto Eco 1 copy
1989 1 copy
Octubre, numero cero 1 copy
"A poética da obra aberta". In: Obra Aberta: forma e indeterminação nas poéticas contemporâneas 1 copy
Lo Zen 1 copy
En el nombre del padre 1 copy
Alımlama Göstergebilimi 1 copy
1990 1 copy
Le introduzioni di Umberto Eco Attraverso 6000 anni di cultura: Storia della Civiltà Europea a cura di Umberto… (2016) 1 copy
Autori ed autorità 1 copy
Eroe sarà lei e sua sorella 1 copy
C'è vita e vita 1 copy
Segno e inferenza 1 copy
Associated Works
Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (1938) — Introduction, some editions — 1,159 copies
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America (2006) — Contributor, some editions — 1,102 copies
The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (2005) — Introduction, some editions — 697 copies
The Key to The Name of the Rose: Including Translations of All Non-English Passages (1987) 490 copies
The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language Upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism (1923) — Preface, some editions — 286 copies
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Contributor — 141 copies
Bread of Dreams: Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Europe (1980) — Introduction, some editions — 107 copies
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 29 copies
The Irish Review 10: Dublin. Europe. Dublin (1991) — Interviewee — 2 copies
LINUS. Settembre 2023 (Vol 09. 2023): Vol. 9 — Author — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1932-01-05
- Date of death
- 2016-02-19
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Italian
- Country (for map)
- Italy
- Birthplace
- Alessandria, Italy
- Place of death
- Milan, Italy
- Cause of death
- pancreatic cancer
- Places of residence
- Rimini, Italy
Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Urbino, Italy - Education
- University of Turin (PhD | 1954 | Philosophy and Literature)
- Occupations
- philosopher
semiotician
university professor
critic - Relationships
- Ramge, Renata (wife)
- Organizations
- Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici
University of Bologna
Gruppo '63 - Awards and honors
- Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2001)
Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement (2005)
Premio Príncipe de Asturias (2000)
Society of Literature
Premio Strega (1981)
Prix Medicis Etranger (1982) (show all 9)
Italian Grand Cross of Merit (Knight)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (1999)
Accademia dei Lincei (2010) - Short biography
- Umberto Eco was born in the city of Alessandria in the Italian region of Piedmont, right in the middle of the Genova, Milan, Turin triangle. Before he was drafted to fight in 3 wars, his father, Giulio Eco, was an accountant. Young Umberto and his mother, Giovanna, moved to a small village in the Piedmontese mountainside during the Second World War. Eco received a Salesian education, and he has made references to the order and its founder in his works and interviews. His family name is supposedly an acronym of ex caelis oblatus (Latin: a gift from the heavens), which was given to his grandfather (a foundling) by a city official. His father came from a family of thirteen children, and was very keen of Umberto to read Law, but instead he entered the University of Turin in order to take up medieval philosophy and literature. Umberto's thesis was on the topic of Thomas Aquinas and this earned him a BA in philosophy in 1954. In that period, Eco abandoned the Roman Catholic Church after a crisis of faith. Following this, Eco worked as a cultural editor for RAI, Radiotelevisione Italiana, the state broadcasting station, he also became a lecturer at the University of Turin (1956–64). A group of avant-garde artists—painters, musicians, writers—whom he had befriended at RAI (Gruppo 63) became an important and influential component in Eco's future writing career. This was especially true after the publication of his first book in 1956, Il problema estetico di San Tommaso, which was an extension of his doctoral thesis. This also marked the beginning of his lecturing career at his alma mater. In September 1962, he married Renate Ramge, a German art teacher with whom he has a son and a daughter. He divides his time between an apartment in Milan and a vacation house near Rimini. He has a 30,000 volume library in the former and a 20,000 volume library in the latter.
Members
Discussions
Umberto Eco / The Name of the Rose in Someone explain it to me... (Friday 7:47pm)
Umberto Eco in Legacy Libraries (November 2021)
test in Christopher's LT Testing Group (October 2020)
May Group Read - The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco) in 75 Books Challenge for 2016 (September 2016)
Umberto Eco dead at 84 in Book talk (February 2016)
**Umberto Eco in 2014 Category Challenge (June 2014)
Bibliographie in Zwischen �t�p� und Wirklichkeit: Konstruierte Sprachen für die gl�b�l�s�rt� Welt (June 2012)
[The Name of the Rose] in Historical Mysteries (September 2006)
Reviews
Travels In Hyperreality (Harvest Book) by Umberto Eco
Dated observations of cultural change during the early 1970s.
½
A Book With More Than 500 Pages
The Name of the Rose reminds me of The Da Vinci Code in that it's an easy read despite qualifying for this category. There is only one riddle, rather than the series present in Dan Brown's book, but this one puzzle plays a central role in unraveling the mystery at the center of the story.
Umberto Eco's novel revolves around the visit of Brother William, a former Inquisitor, and his novice, Adso, to an unnamed monastery in northern Italy. Brother William is attending a meeting between representatives of Pope John XXII and the Franciscans, who are debating how both clergy and laymen should live in consideration of Christ's poverty. On the eve of their arrival, a monk is found dead just outside the walls of the monastery and Brother William is asked to investigate by the Abbot.
Over the seven days Brother William and Adso spend at the monastery, several additional murders occur, all revolving around a mysterious book from the monastery’s impressive library whose floorplan is the riddle which must be solved before the conspiracy behind the murders can be understood. Much like Aga Christy, Eco provides a wealth of suspicious characters who could all be guilty of one or more of the ongoing murders.
Having a grounding in Christian dogma helps but is not necessary to understand the internecine squabbles between the various factions of monks with their competing beliefs. However, suspending your expectations regarding the behavior of 14th century monks is a prerequisite for enjoying this book, as you will encounter a boisterous and occasionally antagonistic group of men engaging in both homo- and heterosexual acts and displaying all the petty jealousies of modern-day politicians.
My only quibble with the book is Eco's habit of writing long lists of what I found to be boring details adding nothing to the narrative. The first of these is Adso's encounter with the apocalyptic sculpture of the church, which seems more a vision he suffers than merely observation. Adso's dream while chanting at a funeral is another; its inclusion seemed unnecessary despite its connection to historical facts. I wound up skimming these sections without losing the thread of the plot.
My copy of the novel had a long appendix with Eco's commentary on his writing process which I found interesting from a theoretical perspective; however, the novel stands on its own without need for explanation.
About halfway through the book I looked up the movie and discovered Sean Connery stars in it. I immediately knew he plays Brother William and struggled not to hear his voice when subsequently reading the monk's dialogue. Afterwards, I tried to watch the movie, but it had a Monty Pythonish aspect and I gave up after the third murder. Stick to the book.… (more)
The Name of the Rose reminds me of The Da Vinci Code in that it's an easy read despite qualifying for this category. There is only one riddle, rather than the series present in Dan Brown's book, but this one puzzle plays a central role in unraveling the mystery at the center of the story.
Umberto Eco's novel revolves around the visit of Brother William, a former Inquisitor, and his novice, Adso, to an unnamed monastery in northern Italy. Brother William is attending a meeting between representatives of Pope John XXII and the Franciscans, who are debating how both clergy and laymen should live in consideration of Christ's poverty. On the eve of their arrival, a monk is found dead just outside the walls of the monastery and Brother William is asked to investigate by the Abbot.
Over the seven days Brother William and Adso spend at the monastery, several additional murders occur, all revolving around a mysterious book from the monastery’s impressive library whose floorplan is the riddle which must be solved before the conspiracy behind the murders can be understood. Much like Aga Christy, Eco provides a wealth of suspicious characters who could all be guilty of one or more of the ongoing murders.
Having a grounding in Christian dogma helps but is not necessary to understand the internecine squabbles between the various factions of monks with their competing beliefs. However, suspending your expectations regarding the behavior of 14th century monks is a prerequisite for enjoying this book, as you will encounter a boisterous and occasionally antagonistic group of men engaging in both homo- and heterosexual acts and displaying all the petty jealousies of modern-day politicians.
My only quibble with the book is Eco's habit of writing long lists of what I found to be boring details adding nothing to the narrative. The first of these is Adso's encounter with the apocalyptic sculpture of the church, which seems more a vision he suffers than merely observation. Adso's dream while chanting at a funeral is another; its inclusion seemed unnecessary despite its connection to historical facts. I wound up skimming these sections without losing the thread of the plot.
My copy of the novel had a long appendix with Eco's commentary on his writing process which I found interesting from a theoretical perspective; however, the novel stands on its own without need for explanation.
About halfway through the book I looked up the movie and discovered Sean Connery stars in it. I immediately knew he plays Brother William and struggled not to hear his voice when subsequently reading the monk's dialogue. Afterwards, I tried to watch the movie, but it had a Monty Pythonish aspect and I gave up after the third murder. Stick to the book.… (more)
Couldn't relate to the protagonist and not knowledgeable enough about the history of Italy to follow the twists and turns of the plot
To frontload with the negatives, I think through most of the book my big concerns were
1) William is too obviously good (and also obviously based on Sherlock Holmes, which is funny but not bad). He regularly engages in long philosophical dialogues with other monks where he's clearly pretty much in the right, being more learned, more perceptive, and more aligned with modern ways of thinking. It's sometimes a little frustrating reading the other monks and religious figures being obviously evil in contrast, even if certain bits are based on real events and ideology.
2) There's a lot of just listing stuff - sometimes descriptive, sometimes just names of things. I'm bad with descriptions anyway but even aside from that it was unclear what the point was. It's just lists of signs.
3) Sort of following on from 2, there's lots of stuff on not only 14th century theological debates but also just general medieval fact dropping and I was never sure if this was actually making a meaningful point... this isn't a criticism exactly, because reading about history is very cool and interesting! But I guess especially with the untranslated Latin alongside it, it sometimes feels like, deliberately intended to seem "clever" in a way that suggests deeper commentary but isn't necessarily saying much deeper. This is maybe an unfair one, it's hard to explain properly.
But it was still enjoyable and compelling all the way to the end! And then the end clarified things and made a point of 2 and 3 and at least complicated 1.
Like,obviously the destruction of all the knowledge contained in the abbey is occasioned by William's desperate attempts to preserve a single part destroyed manuscript, even though he had correctly surmised what it said already! One of the things where William suggests stuff that *is* eyebrow raising is about "the simple" - the average uneducated person. and Jorge has the same objection to the lost book of Aristotle on comedy - the educated admitting the good of comedy is handing a tool to "the simple". Both have a complicated relationship with knowledge and dealing with how the uneducated experience it Ultimately it ends on a note that questions the value of signs and knowledge in understanding the world, which is self reflective in that it's clearly a book in love with knowledge and books in and of themselves. I'm not explaining it very well but yeah i felt the ending really pulled everything together well in a way that stuck with me and turned a good book into one that was great… (more)
1) William is too obviously good (and also obviously based on Sherlock Holmes, which is funny but not bad). He regularly engages in long philosophical dialogues with other monks where he's clearly pretty much in the right, being more learned, more perceptive, and more aligned with modern ways of thinking. It's sometimes a little frustrating reading the other monks and religious figures being obviously evil in contrast, even if certain bits are based on real events and ideology.
2) There's a lot of just listing stuff - sometimes descriptive, sometimes just names of things. I'm bad with descriptions anyway but even aside from that it was unclear what the point was. It's just lists of signs.
3) Sort of following on from 2, there's lots of stuff on not only 14th century theological debates but also just general medieval fact dropping and I was never sure if this was actually making a meaningful point... this isn't a criticism exactly, because reading about history is very cool and interesting! But I guess especially with the untranslated Latin alongside it, it sometimes feels like, deliberately intended to seem "clever" in a way that suggests deeper commentary but isn't necessarily saying much deeper. This is maybe an unfair one, it's hard to explain properly.
But it was still enjoyable and compelling all the way to the end! And then the end clarified things and made a point of 2 and 3 and at least complicated 1.
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Statistics
- Works
- 403
- Also by
- 33
- Members
- 101,464
- Popularity
- #88
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,541
- ISBNs
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- Languages
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- Favorited
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