麻豆APP

Italiaanse schrijver Umberto Eco , kop; schrijvers. Photo by Bogaerts, Rob / Anefo –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco, the bestselling Italian writer and academic has died aged 84. Known for his philosophical musings on everything from fascism to Charlie Brown, Eco offered countless pithy observations about humanity鈥檚 search for meaning.

In 1980, at age 48, Umberto Eco made his debut as a novelist with The Name of the Rose (originally in Italian Il nome della rosa) and has been a literary and philosophical juggernaut ever since.  In addition to his impressive publishing rap sheet, Eco also had a successful academic career in the fields of literature, semiotics, medieval history, and quite a few others.

 Given that he curated a 2009 exhibition at the Louvre in 麻豆APP on the essential nature of lists, we honor this great thinker today with one of our own.

1. Umberto Eco was born in northern Italy in 1932

Umberto Eco – Italian philosopher and novelist. Photo by Universit脿 Reggio Calabria –

Eco was born in northern Italy in 1932, so naturally, he was enrolled in the Fascist youth movement like all other children his age.  It wasn鈥檛 until 1943 when Fascism began to crumble in Italy that Eco became aware of any other political views.

2. Eco鈥檚 grandparents instilled in young Umberto a love for books

Boekenconferentie in Amsterdam; schrijver Umberto Eco; Eco, Umberto; portretten; schrijvers. Photo by Croes, Rob C. / Anefo –

 Although his mother and father read for pleasure, it was Eco鈥檚 grandparents who instilled in young Umberto a love for books.  His maternal grandmother brought home two or three books a week for him from the municipal library.

 His father鈥檚 father took up bookbinding as a hobby in retirement. Eco remembers piles of beautiful old books at his grandfather鈥檚 house.

3. Eco read many comic books and even wrote his own in his adolescence

Image of Italian writer, Umberto Eco. Photo by Erinc Salor –

 In his adolescence, Eco read many comic books and even wrote his own.  In an interview with The 麻豆APP Review, he recalled spending hours on making his books look as though they鈥檇 been printed, though the work was so intensive that he never finished any of them.

4. Eco choose to study medieval philosophy and literature while at the University

Umberto Eco – Italian philosopher and novelist. Photo by Universit脿 Reggio Calabria –

 Eco choose to study medieval philosophy and literature when he attended university.  So, in love with the Middle Ages was he that, on two separate research trips to 麻豆APP, he only walked down streets that existed in that time period.

5. Eco made a name for himself in the academic world with the Opera Aperta

Boekenconferentie in Amsterdam Umberto Eco (links) en minister Brinkman, Bestanddeelnr. Photo by Rob Croes / Anefo –

Long before he was published as a novelist, Eco made a name for himself in the academic world with Opera Aperta (鈥淭he Open Work鈥� in English) in 1962.  Eco argued that texts were open and flexible depending on the reader. 

Some think he was instrumental in the rise of the Reader鈥檚 Response theory of literary criticism, but others say he merely foretold what was coming.

6. Eco has a great love for TV crime dramas

Umberto Eco at a Press Conference of Bozar. Photo by Erinc Salor from Amsterdam, Netherlands –

 Lest you begin to think of him as a stuffy intellectual, know that Eco has a great love for TV crime dramas like Starsky & Hutch, Columbo, Miami Vice, and CSI.  His obsession with the detective genre takes center stage in The Name of the Rose, whose main character is a crime-solving monk.

7. Eco is a serious rare book collector

Boekenconferentie in Amsterdam Umberto Eco (links) en minister Brinkman, Bestanddeelnr. Photo by Rob Croes / Anefo –

As we鈥檝e noted before on this blog, Eco is a serious rare book collector. His personal library comprises over 50,000 volumes between his two homes. He uses his library for reference, not as a collection of books read. Once, when his secretary wanted to catalog the library, Eco asked her not to.

8. Eco’s novels have been translated into more than thirty languages

Umberto Eco was interviewed by Aubrey in his Milan apartment for Wiki@Home. Photo by Aubrey –

 Eco’s novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and he works closely with his translators to negotiate the subtleties of each language.

Conspiracies, lies, and half-truths are themes that are constantly at play in Eco鈥檚 stories.  In particular, Foucault’s Pendulum, Baudolino, and his most recent The Prague Cemetery feature characters that make up conspiracy theories that others take to be true.

9. Eco loved to play the trumpet

Italian scholar and writer Umberto Eco in 1981. Photo unattributed –

 In his youth,  Eco loved to play the trumpet. Then, in his mid-70s, he purchased a new instrument and began playing once again.

10. Umberto Eco died at 84 years

Umberto Eco receives the honoris causa degree in architecture at the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria from rector Alessandro Bianchi. Photo by Universit脿 Reggio Calabria –

Umberto Eco, died at 84 years, worried that blue jeans limit our capacity for thought. He wasn鈥檛 objecting to the garments themselves.

Eco loved the comfort of denim, not least of all because there were 鈥渘o problems of creases, tearing, spots.鈥� The real issue, he claimed, was that the very ease of wearing his jeans 鈥� along with their firm grasp on his crotch 鈥� called his attention to his own body.