Miroslav Havel (26 May 1922 – 5 September 2008) was the chief designer for Waterford Crystal. Born in Držkov,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, he trained as a glass craftsman in

Železný Brod Železný Brod (; german: Eisenbrod) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Administrative parts Villages of Bzí, C ...

and in the Academy of Art and Industrial Design ( "Umprum") in Prague. During his study at Umprum, he interned in a glass factory in

Světlá nad Sázavou Světlá nad Sázavou (; german: Swietla ob der Sasau) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages and hamlets of Benetice, Dolní Březinka, ...

owned by Karel Bacik. Bacik, who was losing control of his business as the Communist takeover progressed, migrated to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, made plans to set up a glass factory there, and in 1947 sent for Havel to supervise the technical aspects of the factory.Brian F. Havel, ''Maestro of Crystal'', Currach Press, 2005 There had been a glassmaking factory in Waterford in the previous century, but as nothing was left of that tradition, Havel created a production process from scratch, recruited skilled craftspeople from traditional glassmaking areas of Europe, set up training and apprenticeship programmes for Irish personnel, and designed new product ranges. In these product ranges, Havel attempted to reestablish continuity with the glassmaking tradition of Waterford City (Havel visited the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

to make detailed drawings of their collection of original Waterford glass), while serving the needs of contemporary consumers and working within the constraints of modern factory production.

References

1922 births 2008 deaths People from Jablonec nad Nisou District Glass artists Czechoslovak emigrants to Ireland {{Glass-art-stub