Umberto Eco

About Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco (1932-2016) was a towering figure in 20th and 21st-century intellectual culture, recognized by the Pantheon project with an HPI Rank of #673 for his global influence across semiotics, literary criticism, and novel writing. His fictional works, most famously *The Name of the Rose*, synthesized dense academic theory with gripping narrative, securing his place as a major modern writer. Eco also made significant contributions to the philosophy of language and medieval studies, demonstrating a vast scope of intellectual engagement that underpins his high historical importance ranking.

Despite this stature, Eco's modern internet attention presents a modest picture. In 2025, he received an annualized 425K Wikipedia pageviews, resulting in an Attention Gap of approximately 1x—meaning his online visibility is closely matched to his historical importance, unlike many other major figures. For comparison, this view count is substantially lower than contemporary writer Kurt Vonnegut, who ranks slightly lower in importance (#849) but garners 1.0M views, or Virginia Woolf (#929 importance) with 1.5M views.

Looking at short-term trends, Eco's interest appears to be slowly receding online, with a -0.8% year-over-year change in views and a further -4% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting a gradual drift away from this crucial contemporary author in the digital sphere.