# Talk:Henryk Sienkiewicz

I removed link to rather obscure Soviet doctor from Mongolia. I think most people won't confuse him with Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Of course I am open to arguments.But I find it rather doubtfull the link is neccessary.
--Molobo 09:19, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Removed mention of only a single living relative in Australia. This claim has no discernable source. It contradicts a later implication that there are multiple (if few) living relatives. Additionally, contradicts my own knowledge of his living relatives, but that is not justification for the edit since it is "original research". Edit made on the other mentioned rationale. 4.141.32.140 05:25, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
I changed the phrase "Sienkiewicz had a way with language"--which is rather an obvious thing to say about a Nobel prize winner--to "Sienkiewicz was meticulous in preserving the authenticity of historical language."  This may not be the best phrasing either, but I think it is a step in the right direction.
12.217.35.209 02:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I find this sentence confusing:
In 1924, when Poland gained its independence, writer’s ashes were placed in St. John’s Cathedral in Warsaw.
It suggests, Poland gained independence in 1924 while it was in 1918.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.77.135.210 (talk) 11:31, 30 December 2007 (UTC) 

The text was indeed confusing.  It had evidently been written by a non-English-native-speaker.  I've corrected several of the article's final sentences.  I'm sure there is much more that should be corrected, time permitting.  Nihil novi (talk) 20:34, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

In addition to the many streets and parks in Poland named after Sienkiewicz, there is a short street and park in Rome, Italy, named in his honor. SienkRJ (talk) 22:53, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Could you provide more details? Italian names, web links? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk  18:40, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

When were his works first translated? Are any English translations in public domain? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk  18:39, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

First translated, end of 19th century, beginning of 20th; into English mostly by Jeremiah Curtin—lousy translator.  All Curtin's stuff would be in public domain.  More recent English translations, about 15 years ago, mostly by W.S. Kuniczak, who took liberties with Sienkiewicz's texts.  Nihil novi (talk) 21:26, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
Sorry, I have to disagree with the above comment. Jeremiah Curtin's* translations of The Trilogy are excellent and can be obtained free from Amazon. I had long wanted to read Sienkiewicz's work as an Englishman living full-time in Poland and I was very pleased to be able to download Curtin's translations onto my kindle.
Sienkiewicz's novels were a true inspiration to the Polish during the the period of the partitions when Poland ceased to exist, being occupied by Prussia, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I love the final lines of Pan Wołodyjowski which sum up in a nutshell the author's rationale for writing The Trilogy:
"Here ends this series of books, written in the course of a number of years and with no little toil, for the strengthening of hearts." Ivankinsman (talk) 08:54, 29 July 2012 (UTC)

*Born in Detroit, Michigan,[1][2][3] Jeremiah Curtin spent his early life in Milwaukee County[4] and later graduated from Harvard College in 1863. In 1864 he went to Russia, where he worked as both a translator and for the U.S. legation. He left Russia in 1877, stayed a year in London, and returned to the United States, where he worked for the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Museum. His specialties were his work with American Indian languages and Slavic languages. In addition to publishing collections of fairy tales and folklore and writings about his travels, Curtin translated a number of volumes by Henryk Sienkiewicz, including his Trilogy set in the 17th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a couple of volumes on contemporary Poland, and, most famously and profitably, Quo Vadis (1897).

I think Henryk Sienkiewicz easily compares in the quality of his writing to the likes of Sir Walter Scott, for example, and some of the great Russian and French writers such as Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Maupassant. However, I think he is very under-recognised outside Poland which is a great shame. Personally, I feel the Polish Ministry of Culture needs to do a lot more to promote its great literary tradition, which includes other great writers like Boleslaw Prus. Perhaps an annual book festival should be launched in Krakow or Wroclaw to facilitate this. Ivankinsman (talk) 15:39, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Well, in general, few writers are translated into English; he is hardly an exception. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:00, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
He’s know to me. He’s an ancestor. Uncle of my grandfather. Wladyslaw Madak Sienkiewicz. My father was named for him in 1921. ~2025-31836-88 (talk) 00:10, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
@Ivankinsman Sienkiewicz was incredibly popular outside of Poland during his life, he was basically a rock star, with people stalking him all over Europe. Marcelus (talk) 09:18, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
"few writers are translated into English" - ROFL. Oh, dear ...

He was popular abroad in the past, e.g. in Spain. I think he is not promoted by the Polish authorities, because he has as many fans as haters in Poland.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.77.53.133 (talk) 20:31, 13 April 2013 (UTC) 

Passed for WPPOLAND and other projects per WPBIO review.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 03:37, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
"Henryk Sienkiewicz" copy-edit completed.  Nihil novi (talk) 12:51, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Henryk Sienkiewicz/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Pyrotec (talk · contribs) 07:08, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

I will review. Pyrotec (talk) 07:08, 3 July 2013 (UTC)


### Initial comments
I've now done a very quick initial read of this nomination, but I've not checked any citations / references nor copyright status of images, and on this basis it appears to be at or about GA-level. However, there is a {{disambiguation}} flag that aught to be addressed.
I'm now started a more detailed review of the article against WP:WIAGA, starting at the Life section and finishing with the Lead. This is likely to take another day or so, at least. Pyrotec (talk) 18:52, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

Life -
Early years & Travels abroad -
These two subsections look OK.
Return to Poland -
Krynica has a {{disambiguation}} flag dated May 2013. It would be helpful if this could be addressed.
Otherwise, this subsection looks OK.
Later years -
....Stopping for now. To be continued. Pyrotec (talk) 19:22, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm traveling out of town at the moment in remote areas with limited Internet access, should be able to address above in a few days. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 19:08, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for the update. I hope to finish this part of the review either today or tomorrow; and then I'll wait for your return. Pyrotec (talk) 12:10, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
Later years & Death -
These two subsections look OK.
Work -
This section looks OK.
Recognition & Selected works -
These two sections look OK.
WP:Lead -
For an article of this length the lead is rather "thin", so I'm not too convinced that it is compliant with WP:Lead as it makes no attempt to summarise some of the material given in the body of the article, such as Sienkiewicz's (paid for) travels abroad. I'd like to see a bit more detail in the summary, so I'd suggest that it be expanded to three paragraphs and his travels abroad (and Nobel prize) be added. Pyrotec (talk) 17:18, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
At this point I'm putting the review "On Hold". In order to make GA-status the lead needs to be addressed and once that has been done I'll award it a GA. The disambiguation aught to be addresses, but its not mandatory to achieve GA. Pyrotec (talk) 17:18, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

@Pyrotec - thanks for the review, I expanded the lead and piped the disambig. I hope it is fine now, --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:21, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
Yes, thanks. It's much better now. Pyrotec (talk) 19:27, 23 July 2013 (UTC)


### Overall summary
GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

An informative and well referenced article.
Is it reasonably well written?
A. Prose quality: 

B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists: 

Is it factually accurate and verifiable?
A. Has an appropriate reference section: 

B. Citation to reliable sources where necessary: 

C. No original research: 

Is it broad in its coverage?
A. Major aspects: 

B. Focused: 

Is it neutral?
Fair representation without bias: 

Is it stable?
No edit wars, etc: 

Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?
A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content: 

B. Images are provided if possible and are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions: 

Overall:
Pass or Fail: 

I'm awarding this article GA-status. Congratulations on a "fine" article. Pyrotec (talk) 19:32, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Can someone please edit the article so it reads like English?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.97.124.83 (talk) 19:33, 17 September 2017 (UTC) 

@IvanScrooge98: The "revert" function isn't there to ask questions. It's there to revert edits you know to be incorrect or disruptive.
The Cracow-Poznan standard of pronunciation assimilates all instances of /n/ to [ŋ]. In the Warsaw standard of pronunciation, this assimilation is restricted to some words such as ręka [ˈrɛŋka], but not piosenka [pjɔˈsɛnka] (the spelling is irrelevant, bank is also [baŋk]. It's just an archaic, illogical distinction that has no impact on pronunciation). Kbb2 (ex. Mr KEBAB) (talk) 12:50, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

@Kbb2: alright, thanks and sorry for misunderstanding the whole thing. If that’s the way it is, we probably should note it at Help:IPA/Polish.  イヴァンスクルージ九十八（会話） 12:57, 20 August 2019 (UTC)