Henryk Sienkiewicz

Nobel Prize in Literature 1905

Polish novelist, born on May 5, 1846, and died on November 15, 1916, in Switzerland, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905. He studied Law, Medicine, and later History and Literature at the University of Poland, but did not graduate. He worked as a journalist and, at the same time, wrote novels and short stories. He was the editor of the newspaper Niwa He is one of the founders of the Mianowski Foundation and the Literary Foundation, of which he was president.
He traveled to several countries, including Italy, from where he drew inspiration to write the celebrated novel. Quo Vadis? (1895), which depicts the early days of Christianity. The story has been adapted for film several times, most notably by D'Annunzio in 1924 and Mervyn Le Ray in 1951, starring Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr. He is also the author of a trilogy of short stories. Ogniem i mieczem (1884) and the novel Krzyzacy (1900), among other works.
At the dawn of the First World War, he went to Switzerland and served on the Swiss Committee for Aid to War Victims in Poland. After his death, his body was transferred to Poland just eight years later and is buried in St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw.

Henryk Sienkiewicz. In Infopédia [Online]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2011.