Henryk Sienkiewicz

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (pronounce: Sienkiewicz.ogg) (May 5 1846 - November 15 1916) was a Polish novelist, one of the outstanding writers of the second half of the 19th century. Serializing his novels in newspapers, he became immensely popular and beloved in his time and, over a century later, is still highly valued by readers of prose. In Poland he is best known for his colorful historical novels depicting the derring-do of Polish heroes; abroad—for his novel, Quo Vadis, set in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.

Quo Vadis has been filmed several times, most notably the 1951 version.

The author of Quo Vadis won the 1905 Nobel Prize in literature "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer."¹

His most important novels were:

• The Trilogy (Trylogia), comprising:
  • With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i mieczem, 1884);
  • The Deluge (Potop, 1886);
  • Pan Michael (Pan Wołodyjowski, 1888) aka Fire in the Steppe .

• The Teutonic Knights , ISBN 0781804337 (Krzyżacy, 1900, relating to the Battle of Grunwald).
• Quo Vadis (1895).
• In Desert and Wilderness (W pustyni i w puszczy, 1912).
• The Polaniecki Family (Rodzina Połanieckich, 1894).
• Without Dogma (Bez dogmatu, 1891).

Note

1. Many commentators erroneusly state that Sienkiewicz received the Nobel Prize for Quo vadis. This is incorrect. He received it "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer." Source: [1] "Za co Sienkiewicz dostał Nobla" (a Polish newspaper article).

See also

• Quo vadis

External link

• Works by Henryk Sienkiewicz from Project Gutenberg