ROME — Italian author Umberto Eco, who intrigued, puzzled and delighted readers worldwide with his best-selling historical novel “The Name of the Rose,” died Friday.
He was 84.
Spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Eco’s American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, told The Associated Press she could not immediately confirm the cause of death or where he died.
The author of a wide range of books was fascinated with the obscure and the mundane, and his books were both engaging narratives and philosophical and intellectual exercises. The bearded, heavy-set scholar, critic and novelist tackled the esoteric theory of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language; popular culture icons such as James Bond; and the technical languages of the Internet.
“The Name of the Rose” transformed him from academic to international celebrity. “The Name of the Rose” sold millions of copies, a feat for a narrative filled with partially translated Latin quotes and puzzling musings on the nature of symbols.
His second novel, “Foucault’s Pendulum” (1988), a byzantine tale of plotting publishers and secret sects also styled as a thriller, was successful, too.
Eco was born Jan. 5, 1932, in Alessandria, a town east of Turin.
He received a degree in philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954 and later became a professor at the University of Bologna, while also working as a journalist.
