I developed a passion for the Middle Ages the same way some people develop a passion for coconuts.

Eco has also written academic texts children's books and many essays. He is best known for his groundbreaking 1980 novel Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose) an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction biblical analysis medieval studies and literary theory. Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross (Italian pronunciation: [umˈbɛrto ˈɛko]; born 5 January 1932) is an Italian semiotician essayist philosopher literary critic and novelist.

His most recent novel Il cimitero di Praga (The Prague Cemetery) released in 2010 was a best-seller. Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross (Italian pronunciation: [umˈbɛrto ˈɛko]; born 5 January 1932) is an Italian semiotician essayist philosopher literary critic and novelist. He is founder of the Dipartimento di Comunicazione at the University of the Republic of San Marino President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici University of Bologna member of the Accademia dei Lincei (since November 2010) and an Honorary Fellow of Kellogg College University of Oxford.