Sienkiewicz, Henryk, << shehn KYEH veech, HEHN rihk >> (1846-1916), was a popular Polish novelist. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1905. His most celebrated novel is Quo Vadis? (1896), a story of Roman society under Nero. With Fire and Sword (1884) was the first of three related novels that describe society in Poland during the wars of the 1600’s against the Cossacks, Turks, and Swedes.
Sienkiewicz was born on May 5, 1846, in Wola Okrzejska, near Lukow. He became a leader of patriots working for Polish independence. He died on Nov. 15, 1916.
