Henryk Sienkiewicz

Overview

Henryk Sienkiewicz was born on May 5, 1846 in Wola Okrzejska, Poland, Russian Empire [now Wola Okrzejska, Lubelskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Quo Vadis (1951), Invasion 1700 (1962) and Janko the Musician (1930). He was married to Maria Babska, Maria Romanowska and Maria Emilia Kazimiera Szetkiewicz. He died on November 15, 1916 in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland.

Polish author, who won the 1905 Nobel Prize in literature "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer".
His most popular novels include "The Trilogy" (1884-1888), set during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century, and certainly "Quo Vadis?" (1895), which has been filmed several times, most notably Quo Vadis (1951).
For a brief period, 1876-77, Sienkiewicz and other Polish émigrés, including world-renowned actress Helena Modjeska, lived in then-rural Anaheim, California. None of the colonists was adept at farming, so the experiment failed and Sienkiewicz and his wife returned to Poland.
Born to a wealthy Polish family, he was a noble of the Oszyk coat of arms.
Had two children, Henryk and Jadwiga.

In truth there is only one deity, eternal, creative, all-powerful, Venus Genetrix. She brings souls together; she unites bodies and things.
Pliny declares, as I hear, that he does not believe in the gods, but he believes in dreams; and perhaps he is right.
Life deserves laughter, hence people laugh at it.
Eros called the world out of chaos. Whether he did well is another question; but, since he did so, we should recognize his might, though we are free not to bless it.
Riches, glory, power are mere smoke, vanity! The rich man will find a richer than himself; the greater glory of another will eclipse a man who is famous; a strong man will be conquered by a stronger. But can Cæsar himself, can any god even, experience greater delight or be happier than a simple mortal at the moment when at his breast there is breathing another dear breast, or when he kisses beloved lips? Hence love makes us equal to the gods.