Photo: Ola Erikson / Forflex
Sample of authors
Eco, Umberto
Umberto Eco was an Italian author, literary scholar, historian and philosopher born in Alessandria in Piedmont. His surname may refer to the fact that his grandfather was a foundling at a time when children were sometimes registered in church records as "Ex Caelis Oblatus", which can be translated as "offered by the heavens".
His father was a clerk and his mother’s maiden name was Giovanna B...
Literary figures
Porfiry Rostnikov
Gender: Male
He was a police officer during the Soviet era, and remained in the police force after the collapse of communism. According to author Stuart M. Kaminsky, he did so despite having problems with colleagues and superiors – because Porfiry Rostnikov is scrupulously honest and when necessary breaks bureaucratic rules. The fact that he is married to a Jewess, Sarah, is not seen with approval either. He r...