Henryk Sienkiewicz

"Sienkiewicz" redirects here. For others, see Sienkiewicz (surname).

Henryk Sienkiewicz
BornHenryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz
(1846-05-05)5 May 1846
Wola Okrzejska, Lublin Governorate, Congress Poland
Died15 November 1916(1916-11-15) (aged 70)
Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland
Occupation
  • writer
  • novelist
  • journalist
LanguagePolish
Period19th–20th century
Notable awardsNobel Prize in Literature
1905
Signature

Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (US: /ʃɛnˈkjeɪvɪtʃ, -jɛv-/ shen-KYAY-vitch, -⁠KYEV-itch,[1][2][3] Polish: [ˈxɛnrɨk ˈadam alɛkˈsandɛr ˈpjus ɕɛnˈkʲɛvit͡ʂ]; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (Polish pronunciation: [ˈlitfɔs]), was a Polish epic writer.[4] He is remembered for his historical novels, such as the Trilogy series and especially for his internationally known best-seller Quo Vadis (1896).

Born into an impoverished Polish noble family in Russian-ruled Congress Poland, in the late 1860s he began publishing journalistic and literary pieces. In the late 1870s he traveled to the United States, sending back travel essays that won him popularity with Polish readers. In the 1880s he began serializing novels that further increased his popularity. He soon became one of the most popular Polish writers of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and numerous translations gained him international renown, culminating in his receipt of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer".

Many of his novels remain in print. In Poland he is known for his "Trilogy" of historical novels – With Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and Sir Michael – set in the 17th-century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; internationally he is known for Quo Vadis, set in Nero's Rome. The Trilogy and Quo Vadis have been filmed, the latter several times, with Hollywood's 1951 version receiving the most international recognition.

  1. ^ "Sienkiewicz". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Sienkiewicz". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Sienkiewicz". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  4. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1905". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 23 December 2023. an epic writer