Umberto Eco/[umˈbɛrto ˈɛːko] was born on January 5, 1932, and died on February 19, 2016.
He was an Italian novelist, essayist, literary critic, philosopher, and semiotician.
Umberto Eco was 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.
Eco also wrote other novels, including Il pendolo di Foucault (Foucault’s Pendulum) and L’isola del giorno prima (The Island of the Day Before).
His best seller novel Il cimitero di Praga (The Prague Cemetery), released in 2010.
Then he wrote academic texts, children’s books and essays.
Umberto Eco was 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 (he Graduated School for the Study of the Humanities), University of Bologna, member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and an Honorary Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford.
Umberto Eco passed away at 84 yrs old.