Umberto Eco

Eco was born in Alessandria, Italy on January 5th, 1932. Umberto Eco is still best known for his novel Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose) which was published in 1980. The book is an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. In 1986 a movie by the same name, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Sean Connery was released. His 1988 novel Foucault's Pendulum could be described as a "thinking man's Da Vinci Code". Currently, Umberto Eco is President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici, University of Bologna. In additionally he has written a multitude of academic texts, children’s books and essays.