"Prague cemetery", Umberto Eco: facts and fiction

After in 1980 the novel mystery "The Name of the Rose" was published, the writer from Italy Umberto Eco became famous all over the world. Later, he published several more books, but none of them reached the popularity of "The Name of the Rose." It seemed that the writer has nothing more to surprise admirers, but after 30 years the world was shocked by his new book - "Prague Cemetery". Umberto Eco work this filled not only a bunch of puzzles, but also mixed in the plot a lot of historical facts and personalities. Because of this, many readers have become confused: what is the author's invention and what was actually. So, let's look at the intricacies of this book.

The author of the novel "Prague cemetery" - Umberto Eco

First of all, it is worth to learn a little about the creator of the "Prague cemetery". This extraordinary man was born in January 1932 in the small Italian town of Alessandria, in the suburbs of Turin.

While the father of the family fought on the fronts of the Second World War, the mother and 12 brothers and sisters Eko moved to a village near the mountains of Piedmont, where the writer's childhood passed.

The young Umberto was distinguished by his extraordinary intelligence and his desire for knowledge. Therefore, his father expected that he would become a lawyer. But this career did not attract a young man, so after school he went to study the philosophy of the Middle Ages and literature at the University of Turin.

The study of the history of ancient manuscripts and their counterfeits in the university led to the fact that he became disillusioned with religion and became an atheist Umberto Eco. "Paris Cemetery", "The Name of the Rose", "Baudolino" - in all these and other works of the author a caustic satire on the institution of the church and their speculation slips.

After graduation in 1954, the graduate began teaching aesthetics and theory of culture in various universities. In parallel with the teaching activity, Eko published scientific works, which enabled him to become one of the most famous scientists in his field. However, in 1980 he decided to try his hand at writing fiction. So the novel "The Name of the Rose" appeared, which brought to its author greater fame than all his monographs and articles.

After the successful debut of the writer, leading universities of the world began to invite him to lecture, which earned him the title of Honorary Doctor of Sciences in many of them.

Realizing that it is more interesting for people to read novels than scientific volumes, the writer periodically wrote them (Foucault's Pendulum, The Island the Day before, Baudolino and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana). After the release of the work "Prague Cemetery" Umberto Eco said that he no longer plans to write, but did not keep his word and in 2015 published his latest novel "Zero number."

The writer died in February 2016 from pancreatic cancer. In addition to numerous admirers of his work and students, he left two children. They were born by Eco his wife - Renata Ramge, on which he married in 1961.

The novel "Prague cemetery" Umberto Eco: summary

In March 1897, Simonini Simonini wakes up and realizes that she suffers from memory failures. Recalling the advice of the "healer, either Austrian or German" (reference to Freud), he decides to order all his memories. However, being a spy, he can not tell anyone about himself or confess. Therefore, decides to keep a diary and record in it all that happened to him.

Thanks to the records of the hero, as well as the writings of a certain abbot Pikoll, his biography is gradually beginning to emerge.

Raised by his grandfather, the anti-Semite and the Jesuits, he received a good primary education. After the death of his grandfather, fate brings Simono with a fraudulent lawyer who teaches the young man the craft of deception, in which Simonini excels. But his successes are noticed by the secret service of Piedmont, and they hire a hero.
Performing their various assignments, Simonini Simonini gradually penetrates into the essence of political intrigue and becomes an unsurpassed master of their weaving. But "overdoing" in the case of Nievo, he falls into disgrace and refers to France.

Here he is again engaged in customary craft, but after 35 years of work decides to retire to a well-deserved pension. And for this it is necessary to turn a profitable business capable of providing the hero with a decent old age. Therefore, he decides to write "Protocols", in which he sets out all his observations about humanity, accumulated over many years.

He negotiates with the Russians on the sale of this document, but he is deceived and nothing is paid, and they are also forced to make an explosion that will confirm the authenticity of the document. In preparation for this, the book ends. Its content is given only in general terms. You can learn more by reading the novel Umberto Eco "Prague Cemetery" (ePub, Mobi, FB2 or any other popular e-book format) in paper or digital form.

Feature of the novel

Like all the works of this erudite writer, this book has a special twist.

Outwardly, its structure is not noticeable: 27 chapters, an introduction and an afterword, designed as a diary. But in his novel "The Prague Cemetery" Umberto Eco used only one fictitious character - Simon Simonini, and all the rest, even the relatives of the protagonist - real historical figures (Sigmund Freud, Ippolito Nievo, Leo Taxil, Saint-Theres of Lisieux, Julian Glinka , Petr Rachkovsky, Diane Vaughan, Maurice Joly, FM Dostoevsky, Eugene Syu, Ivan Turgenev and others). Due to this reception at some point the reader begins to doubt: is this a fictional work, or what is written in it - the truth?

The meaning of the name

This book is named after the famous landmark in Prague - the cemeteries of the Jewish quarter of Josefov. This place was the last refuge for almost 100,000 Jews who were buried here in the XV-XVIII centuries.

The Prague cemetery Umberto Echo chose as the title for his book, since it is believed that for many years the secret Jewish organization, the so-called "Zion wise men", had gathered. It was at the Prague cemetery that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were created, which became the beginning of the great extermination of the Jews of the 20th century.

"Protocols of the Elders of Zion": fake or original

This document, consisting of 25 protocols, was first published in the Russian Empire in 1903. It was presented as a record of the main theses of the secret meetings of the Zionists in Basel. The "Protocols" became the basis for the formation of the popular theory of the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy (the existence of a secret coalition of Jews and Masons in order to seize power over the world).

The publication of this document was akin to a bomb exploding. "Protocols" were translated into all languages of the world and published in million copies. In some countries they were banned, it only contributed to their popularity. Among those who believed in their authenticity was the inexpressive artist from Germany, who became known to the world as Adolf Hitler. "Protocols" pushed him to the idea of mass extermination of Jews, and then of other races, which became one of the reasons for the beginning of the bloodiest war in the history of mankind.

Immediately after the publication of the authenticity of the "Protocols" began to doubt. To date, according to the official version, this document is recognized as a fake. But so far, many respectable scientists and historians around the world believe in the authenticity of this work.

As an amateur of mythical ancient books and their counterfeits, Eko could not help but become interested in the "Protocols". After carefully studying all the materials on them and making their own conclusions, the writer planned to write a monograph about this. But I realized that in the form of a work of art his thoughts will be more interesting to readers. Therefore, he invented the history of the author of the "Protocols", expounding it in his novel "Prague Cemetery". Umberto Eco (the author of this book) was able to prove in her that the sources that inspired the creator of the Protocols were: Alexander Dumas novel "Joseph Balsamo", Eugene Sue's books "Secrets of one people" and "Paris secrets" and pamphlet by Maurice Jolie "Dialogue In the hell Machiavelli and Montesquieu, or the Machiavellian policy in the XIX century. "

Real and fictional facts in the novel

In addition to the fictitious Eco story of falsification of the "Protocols", the book gives an interpretation of several unexplained events in world history.

First of all, this mysterious death of the Italian writer Ippolito Nievo, who died in a shipwreck in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Historians still do not know whether this was an accident or a ship was deliberately flooded. Eco makes the culprit of the death of Nievo Simonini.

The death of the famous French publicist Maurice Jolie, who actively criticized the activities of Napoleon III, also fell on the conscience of the main character of the novel "Prague Cemetery". However, it had no political connotations. In fact, while writing "Protocols", Simon borrowed much from the famous pamphlet of this author. Fearing the accusation of plagiarism and the fact that it casts a shadow on the credibility of the document, he kills Joly and surrounds his death as suicide. The version of the violent death of a disgraced writer is more invested in his psychological portrait than an inexplicable suicide, for which Maurice at that time simply had no reasons. By the way, it is still considered by historians. Although it is impossible to conduct an exhumation and prove the correctness or falsity of this theory, since the place of burial of this publicist is unknown.

Another bright crime Simonini is participating in in the fabrication of the case of the Alsatian Jew Alfred Dreyfus. Making fake documents (on the basis of which the captain was accused of espionage, demoted and exiled to the Devil's Island), the main character involuntarily became the reason for the formation in society of the idea of creating a Jewish state of his own state.

With these mystifications, Eco virtually denies the worldwide conspiracy theory of Jews or other nations. Moreover, he persistently argues that many important historical events were the result of chance or banal greed of certain people who do not even think about the consequences of their own actions.

Anti-Semitism and anti-clericalism in the novel

In this book, Eco explores the background and the process of the birth of anti-Semitism in the early 20th century. By the lips of the protagonist, he expresses the sad truth: the Jews have become "scapegoats" for humanity. Their real shortcomings were exaggerated to grandiose proportions and new ones were attributed. So Simonini, who grew up in an atmosphere of anti-Semitism, rightly noted that, faced with living Jews, he found nothing so terrible in them. Moreover, throughout his life, he gradually comes to the conclusion that most of the existing stereotypes about them are just inventions of other people who projected their own shortcomings on them. Ironically, the Germans, with whom Simon had to deal often, much more annoyed him. And the Russians in general - they cheated.

With sophisticated sarcasm, the author describes those "reliable" sources from which the hero drew information for the "Protocols". First of all, it was a theory about the desire of Jews to gain power over the world, which his grandfather heard from the mad beggar-Jew Mordukhai in the Turin ghetto. The rest of the elements were borrowed in an arbitrary order from the work of Joly; From the letter of Rodin's father to Father Rootan in the "Secrets of the People" by Eugene Syou; From the feuilletons of the writer-naturalist Alphonse Toussinel; From the novel "Konigsby" B. Disraeli and other famous personalities. Thus, Umberto Eco tries not only to prove the falsity of the Protocols, but also to demonstrate to the readers that the society itself was hostile to the Jews, and the appearance of this book was logical.

As for religion, then, as already mentioned above, Eko was quite skeptical about the dogmas of the Catholic Church. As an expert he knew that most of the documents (on which they are based) are either false or misrepresented. Especially bright is the disappointment in the church of Simonini, which did not prevent him from using the advantages of the clergy skillfully for his own benefit. Thus, the hero became one of the sad examples of priests who hide themselves in the name of Christ to achieve their goals.

Simonini Simonini

In the center of the plot of the novel "Prague cemetery" Umberto Eco placed a resourceful and completely unscrupulous swindler named Simono Simonini. He is half French, half Italian, born in the Italian city of Piedmont, in 1830.

His mother died when he was a small child, so his grandfather was engaged in antisemitism. Therefore, the hero treated the negative attitude to the Jews almost with his mother's milk. Even his name was given in honor of the saint killed by the Jews. Paradoxically, in fact, Simonini treated this people indifferently. The French, the Germans and the Italians deserved more of his dislike.

Gifted by nature, Simono spoke fluently in 3 languages (German, French and Italian) from his youth and had a lively mind. Despite the fact that he was brought up by the Jesuits, he developed a dislike for the institution of the church. At the same time he realized that her methods are very effective for controlling the consciousness of society.

Simonini's first sympathy, a Jewess from the ghetto, did not respond to his feelings, as a result of which he remained a virgin and became indifferent to carnal pleasures. His only passion was refined food.

Simonini and Eco

Some researchers suggest that in the person of Simonini Simonini Umberto Eko came up with a variant of his own biography if he were born 100 years earlier. You can draw a clear parallel: the main character of the novel "Prague Cemetery" - Umberto Eco. The facts from the biography of the writer confirm this.

• The writer's father wanted him to become a lawyer, but the writer chose a different career. Simonini by profession is a notary.
• Eko was engaged in the study of ancient documents and the establishment of their authenticity. Simono, on the contrary, created clever counterfeits.
• Both the writer and his hero are outstanding people and very educated. However, one used his talents to enlighten humanity, and the other to stupefy.
• Eko and Simonini were disappointed in religion, and each of them realized its important role in the life of society.

The main "enemy" Simonini

For a long time, the hero of the novel tried to find out who the mysterious abbot Dalla Picolla was writing in his diary during his absence. Simonini remembered that he had already killed this man, but because of the memory disorder he could not remember it.

In fact, Picolla (attention, spoiler!) - this is the alter-ego of the hero himself. This second personality takes over when Simon falls asleep or fainted.

Leaving the notes in the diary of Simonini, the abbot helps Eko to create a more voluminous image of the protagonist.

Readers' comments

Reading and understanding what is happening in the book requires certain knowledge in the field of literature, history and culture of the XIX-XX centuries. Those read, whose intellectual level was below the bar set in the novel Umberto Eco "Prague Cemetery", reviews of this work have left negative. Basically they complained about the narrowness of the narrative.

However, their more well-read colleagues found the book very entertaining. Especially since it revealed one of the most entertaining secrets of the XIX - XX centuries. Especially many liked how deftly Eco wove into the canvas of the narration of many historical personalities.

In conclusion, it is fair to admit that this book is not intended for the mass reader. Its target audience is erudite intellectuals, tired of the same type of detective novels with boring, predictable characters. Such people will really enjoy reading the novel "Prague Cemetery". Umberto Eco content of the book was confused as a labyrinth consisting of real mysteries of history and its variants of guesses on them. Thus, the reader in an entertaining form can get acquainted with many scientific theories explaining them.