Novelist Umberto Eco to be awarded Dutch city honour
AFP
THE HAGUE- Italian master novelist Umberto Eco has been awarded the second Nijmegen Medal of Peace for his role in the debate on the past and future of Europe, the Dutch city announced Monday.
"An Italian scientist and author, he will receive the award in gratitude for his contribution and reflection on the past and future of Europe," it said in a statement.
"He is often seen as the only modern Italian author who influences European literature," added the statement.
Best known for his medieval novel "The Name of the Rose", published in 1980, Eco "pointed to the need and especially the inevitability of European unity" in his essay "An uncertain Europe: between revival and decline" published in 2005, it added.
A bi-annual award, the Nijmegen Medal of Peace is given to an "international leading spirit who has been involved and continues to be involved for peace on the European continent and to defend the role and position of Europe in the world," the city said.
The first Nijmegen Medal of Peace was awarded in 2010 to the former president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors.
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