Sienkiewicz, Henryk (hĕn`rĭk shĕnkyĕ`vēch), 1846–1916, Polish novelist and short-story writer. The best-known of Sienkiewicz's vivid historical novels is Quo Vadis? (1896, tr. 1896), concerning Christianity in the time of Nero. He glorified the Polish struggle for national existence in the popular trilogy With Fire and Sword (1883, tr. 1890), The Deluge (1886, tr. 1891), and Pan Michael (1887–88, tr. 1893). Yanko the Musician (1879, tr. 1893) is a collection of his short stories. He described his journey through the United States in a collection of letters, Portrait of America (tr. 1959). Sienkiewicz was awarded the 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works brought him enormous international acclaim.

Bibliography

See biography by M. Giergielewicz (1968); study by W. Lednicki (1960).

Sienkiewicz, Henryk (Adam Alexander Pius)

(born May 5, 1846, Wola Okrzejska, Pol.—died Nov. 15, 1916, Vevey, Switz.) Polish novelist. In 1869 he began to publish critical works showing the influence of positivism. He worked as a newspaperman and published successful short stories before producing the great trilogy consisting of With Fire and Sword (1884), The Deluge (1886), and Pan Michael (1887–88). Describing Poland's struggles against Cossacks, Tatars, Swedes, and Turks, the novels stress Polish heroism in a vivid style of epic clarity and simplicity. The widely translated Quo Vadis? (1896), set in Rome under Nero, established his international reputation. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905.