Umberto Eco Has Died At The Age Of 84


Another legendary novelist, besides Harper Lee, has died today. Reports have just emerged that The Name of The Rose author Umberto Eco has just died.

BBC News and other European news outlet have broke the story.

Good reads describes Eco’s book, The Name of The Rose, was about a wealthy Italian Franciscans suspected of heresy in an abbey. This detective novel is accented with brilliant sense of humor and truly thought provoking themes.

A film adaptation starring Sean Connery was released based on Umberto’s novel in 1986.

Mashable has discovered that the novelist/cultural theorist has died at his home, according to a statement his family gave to La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper.

The timing of Umberto’s death is truly peculiar as the “Rule of Three’s” death cycle adage appears to have unfolded this week.

And before fans could finish finish sharing their condolences for Harper Lee’s passing, and politicians could finish arguing who should take Judge Scalia’s spot, the “Twitterverse” has already began paying their respects for eco.

The novelist and cultural theorist, Eco, possessed an immense philosophical knowledge and mustered up many phenomenal quotes in his day,

For instance,

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else — UmbertoEco

According to the Atlantic Umberto Eco was also a renowned semiotician, cultural critic, philosopher, and essayist, in addition to being a prolific novelist Friday.

Eco lost his life to pancreatic cancer according to his Italian publisher, Bompiani.

Eco was born in northern Italy in 1932. His parents worked as an accountant and office worker. Eco’s work was diverse pushed boundaries beyond his time.

Umberto was also a tenured professor at the University of Bologna.

Umberto Eco attends the Festival Della Comunicazione on September 11, 2015 in Camogli, Italy [Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images]
Umberto Eco attends the Festival Della Comunicazione on September 11, 2015 in Camogli, Italy [Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images]
Eco spoke five different languages — a sign of a true intellectual — which included, Italian, French, Spanish, German, and English.

Umberto Eco was also known as a hard-nosed critic and satirist as he gives an introspective look on why humans laugh,

Laughter, and why we laugh, always fascinated me. Man is the only laughing animal because, unlike other animals, we know we have to die. Laughter is a way to tame death, a way not to take our death too seriously, by not taking too seriously our life.

Umberto Eco was solely focused on medieval studies and semiotics until the age of 48 when a friend suggested that he write a “whodunnit” novel, NPRreports.

But if you were to ask the Eco of about his career as a novelist he would reply, “I am a philosopher… I write novels only on the weekends,” as though the writing of his internationally revered books like The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana were just a hobby to pass the time.

“They have a more complicated philosophy,” Eco told Scott. “And then in the world, there are more losers than winners, and so my readers can identify themselves with the characters.”

NPR also noted that Eco’s works tend to be challenging, riddled with obscure references. Umberto Eco admitted that this approach was intentional and he considered “challenging” a compliment. Eco stated,

“Only publishers and television people believe that people crave easy experiences.”

[Photo via Getty Images/Mario Carlini – Iguana Press / Contributor]

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