Andrzej Kmicic is best known as a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...

featured in the novel ''

The Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...

''. He is a typical szlachcic (Polish-Lithuanian noble) from the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

; unruly yet patriotic. During the course of the books, he transforms from a villain to a hero. The 1991–92 Copernicus Society translation by W.S. Kuniczak calls the character Andrei Kmita, rather than Andrzej Kmicic. The moral transformation of Kmicic is similar to the transformation of Prince Roman from

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

's book.

Samuel Kmicic 150px, Radzic Coat of Arms Samuel Kmicic (between 1625 & 1630–1692) was a nobleman ( szlachcic) from Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He held the ranks of colonel ( pułkownik) in the Royal Army, chorąży (en ...

may have served as the prototype of Andrzej Kmicic."Kmicic istniał naprawdę. Kim był Samuel Kmicic, pierwowzór głównego bohatera „Potopu”"
, ''

Wprost ''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish-language weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland.

'', April 5, 2021

References

Literary characters introduced in 1884 Sienkiewicz's Trilogy Fictional Polish people Characters in novels of the 19th century Fictional characters based on real people {{novel-char-stub