This is an AI translated post.
Select Language
Summarized by durumis AI
- Umberto Eco died on February 19, 2016, from pancreatic cancer, and was a leading figure in Italian humanities, active in various fields such as semiotics, philology, linguistics, philosophy, aesthetics, architecture, criticism, history, and anthropology.
- Even after his retirement from the University of Bologna in 2007, he continued to write in the fields of aesthetics, semiotics, literature, essays, and cultural criticism. In the 1980s, he had an exceptional memory, to the point where he could remember the location of every book in the library where he worked.
- Eco was a writer who respected his readers, and he believed that a truly good book could provide a new interpretation even after multiple readings. He emphasized that true knowledge is not just knowing what you should know and what you can know, but also knowing what you didn't know and what you shouldn't know.
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016)
He was an Italian professor whose fields of activity included semiotics, medieval studies, linguistics, philosophy, aesthetics, architecture, criticism, history, anthropology, and the humanities in general.
He received a doctorate (Laurea) from the Department of Literature at the University of Turin with a dissertation on the aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas. He held about 40 honorary doctorates and was said to have been fluent in eight foreign languages in addition to his native Italian. In addition, until the 1980s, he was said to be a genius of memory who knew the location of every book in the library of the University of Bologna, where he was employed. Given that he never forgot the contents of a book he had read once, he had an amazing memory when it came to books.
He was also honorary director of the Italian James Joyce Society, editor of the semiotic journal Versus, visiting professor at Columbia University, visiting professor at Yale University, professor at the University of Bologna, director of the Italian Institute of Humanities, taught at the Collège de France, Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, was honorary president of the International Semiotic Society, and was awarded the Legion of Honour. The above is just a small part of his biography.
He was a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna, but retired at the age of 75 in 2007. Even after his retirement, he continued to write in the fields of aesthetics, semiotics, literature, essays, and cultural criticism, crossing the boundaries between theory and practice.
He died at home on February 19, 2016, after a long battle with cancer. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, a very deadly form of cancer. His family reportedly announced his death to La Repubblica. He was 84 years old. His funeral was held in Milan on February 23, 2016, where hundreds of citizens attended to mourn the passing of a giant of the humanities.
○ A creative writer must basically respect the readers who read his books. He has, so to speak, already thrown his writing into the world, like a letter in a bottle cast into the sea.
○ A truly good book is one that can give you a new interpretation even if you read it two or three times.
○ True heroes are always born out of mistakes. He dreams of becoming an honest coward like everyone else.
○ True knowledge is not just knowing what you should know and what you can know, but also knowing what you didn't know and what you shouldn't know.
○ Poetry is not a matter of emotion, but a matter of language. It is language that creates emotion.
○ Absence calls to love, as wind kindles a fire. The wind extinguishes small flames and fans large ones.
○ The reason why I write, the reason, is not clear to me. There is no reason other than the fact that I have been writing since some time ago and the belief that I will continue to write forever.
