In that same year, he began his academic career as a lecturer at the University of Turin. He published his doctoral thesis, Il Problema estetic in Tommaso d’Aquino ( The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas) in 1956. He attended the University of Turin, where he studied medieval philosophy and aesthetics. Umberto Eco was born on January 5, 1932, in Alessandria, Italy, to Guilo and Givovanna Eco. Rich, complicated, and multilayered, The Name of the Rose promises to be an important novel for study for years to come. In addition, new critical studies of The Name of the Rose appear frequently, and there seems to be no slowing of critical interest.
No one could have predicted the furor caused by his debut novel yet the well-drawn characters, the mysterious setting, and the detective-fiction plot continue to attract a diverse audience for the book. Before The Name of the Rose, Eco was well-known among academicians as the writer of many scholarly books, particularly in the field of semiotics. A scholarly university professor, Eco’s main fields of interest include semiotics, aesthetics, and medieval philosophy. If The Name of the Rose seems an odd choice for such critical and popular acclaim, Eco’s elevation into literary superstardom seems just as surprising. Critics and readers alike enthusiastically received The Name of the Rose, and the 1986 Jean-Jacques Annaud film, starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater, only fueled interest in the novel.
Yet by 2004, the book had sold more than nine million copies and had never been out of print. The novel, with its labyrinthine plot, deep philosophical discussions, and medieval setting, seemed an unlikely candidate for worldwide success. First published in Italy in 1980 as Il nome della rosa, William Weaver’s English translation of author Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose appeared in the United States in 1983, and in England in 1984.
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