The renowned Italian author Umberto Eco, born in Alessandria in 1932 and educated at the University of Turin, came to his Ellmann Lectures as one of the true polymaths of our time: medievalist and Renaissance man, contemporary novelist and essayist, literary and cultural critic, philosopher and theoretician, columnist and editor, linguist and author of children’s books. As Professor of Semiotics at the University of Bologna since 1971, he has held distinguished academic appointments at numerous European and American Universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Collège de France, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.

As the author of best-selling novels, from The Name of the Rose (1983) and Foucault’s Pendulum (1989) to Baudolino (2002) and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (2005), he enjoys a world readership. His many works of non-fiction on semiotics, linguistics, aesthetics, and modern culture include A Theory of Semiotics (1976), Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages (1985), The Open Work (1989), The Middle Ages of James Joyce (1989), Kant and the Platypus (1999) and On Literature (2004).

Scroll down for photos from Umbert Eco's 2008 Ellmann Lectures.

For his multiform achievements in modern letters he has, in addition to receiving numerous honorary degrees, been elected to the Academy of Science in Bologna, the International Academy of the Philosophy of Art, the Académie Universelle des Cultures, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His many literary awards include the Marshall McLuhan Award, the Officier de la Legion d’Honneur, the Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, the Dagmar and Vaclav Havel Vision 97 Foundation Award, and the McKim Medal of the American Academy in Rome. Professor Eco is currently President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici at the University of Bologna.

The 2010 Ellmann Lecturer will be announced as soon as he/she has accepted the invitation. Ellmann Lecturers are chosen by an international selection committee. This year's committee consisted of Maria DiBattista, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Princeton University; Hans Walter Gabler, Professor of English, University of Munich; Jahan Ramazani, Edgar F. Shannon Professor and Chair of English, University of Virginia; Ronald Schuchard, Goodrich C. White Professor of English, Emory University; and Joseph Skibell, Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing, Emory University.

Photos from the 2008 Ellmann Lectures:

Professors Ronald Schuchard and Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco during his first lecture at Schwartz Center, "How I Write" (photo courtesy of Emory photographer, Ann Borden)	Umberto Eco socializing at the public reception, hosted by the Office of International Affairs, following the first lecture (photo courtesy of Emory photographer, Ann Borden)
Josh Newton and Ronald Schuchard	Dinner at Lullwater House, hosted by President James and Debbie Wagner
Graduate student assistants: Levin Arnsperger, Michelle Miles; graduate student volunteers: Maureen McCarthy, Christine McCullough, Amanda Madden; and Events Manager, Siân Morgan