Umberto Eco – L'Europa della cultura (2014)

In this valuable lecture, held on November 28, 2014, in the Salone dei Corazzieri at the Quirinale Palace during the "Europe of Culture" conference, Umberto Eco explores the roots of Europe and the importance of a cultural, rather than a political, union. "You are the children of seventy years of peace," Umberto Eco told the students in attendance, "and the credit goes to the founding fathers of a united Europe: men like Spinelli, Adenauer, De Gasperi, and Schuman. Europe has common roots, as we see in its works of art and literature, its languages, and its music. Different cultures, but with strong common foundations." Umberto Eco (Alessandria, 1932 - Milan, 2016) was one of the most important intellectuals in the history of Italian culture: semiologist, philosopher, medievalist, mass media expert, writer, translator, and university professor. During his long career, he co-directed the Bompiani publishing house (from 1959 to 1975), contributed to the formation of Gruppo 63, a historic literary neo-avant-garde, and founded pioneering new degree programs (DAMS and Communication Sciences at the University of Bologna). In 1980, he published the global bestseller "The Name of the Rose," which won countless awards, including the Strega Prize the following year. It has been translated into 47 languages ​​and sold 30 million copies. In 1988, he founded the Department of Communication at the University of San Marino. Since 2008, he has been professor emeritus and president of the School of Advanced Studies in Humanities at the University of Bologna. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, for the class of Moral, Historical and Philosophical Sciences. He conceived and directed the Encyclomedia project. Among Eco's other highly successful novels: "Foucault's Pendulum" (1988), "The Island of the Day Before" (1994), "Baudolino" (2000), "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" (2004) and "The Prague Cemetery" (2010). Many of his non-fiction works include: "Open Work" (1962), "Minimum Diary" (1963), "Treatise on General Semiotics" (1975), "Lector in fabula" (1979), "The Limits of Interpretation" (1990), "Six Walks in the Narrative Woods" (1994), "Kant and the Platypus" (1997), "From the Tree to the Labyrinth" (2007). He has published several illustrated volumes: "History of Beauty" (2004), "History of Ugliness" (2007), "Vertigo of the List" (2009), and "History of the Lands and Legendary Places" (2013). [Rai - Italian Radio and Television]