Umberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on the history of occultism and its contemporary interpretation through the new age movement.
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Also born on January 5
- Bradley Cooper1975 · American actor and filmmaker
- Diane Keaton1946 · American actress
- Robert Duvall1931 · American actor and filmmaker
- Deepika Padukone1986 · Indian actress
- Juan Carlos I1938 · King of Spain from 1975 to 2014
- Hayao Miyazaki1941 · Japanese animator and artist
- Marilyn Manson1969 · American musician
- Shah Jahan1592 · Mughal emperor from 1628 to 1658
Also born in 1932
- Elizabeth Taylor1932 · British and American actress
- Peter O'Toole1932 · English and Irish actor
- Sylvia Plath1932 · American poet and writer
- John Williams1932 · American composer and conductor
- Debbie Reynolds1932 · American actress and singer
- Manmohan Singh1932 · Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014
- Ted Kennedy1932 · American lawyer and politician
- Omar Sharif1932 · Egyptian actor