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Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...
on 31 December, before he became the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays and memoirs. His educational opportunities having been limited by his
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background, when freedoms were limited by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Havel first rose to prominence as a playwright. In works such as '' The Garden Party'' and '' The Memorandum'', Havel used an absurdist style to criticize the Communist system. After participating in the Prague Spring and being blacklisted after the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...
, he became more politically active and helped found several dissident initiatives, including
Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...
and the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. His political activities brought him under the surveillance of the StB secret police, and he spent multiple periods as a political prisoner, the longest of his imprisoned terms being nearly four years, between 1979 and 1983. Havel's Civic Forum party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that toppled the Communist system in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He assumed the presidency shortly thereafter, and was re-elected in a landslide the following year and after Slovak independence in 1993. Havel was instrumental in dismantling the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
and enlargement of NATO membership eastward. Many of his stances and policies, such as his opposition to Slovak independence, condemnation of the treatment of Sudeten Germans and their mass expulsion from Czechoslovakia after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as well as granting of general amnesty to all those imprisoned under the Communist era, were very controversial domestically. By the end of his presidency, he enjoyed greater popularity abroad than at home. Havel continued his life as a public intellectual after his presidency, launching several initiatives including the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism, the VIZE 97 Foundation, and the Forum 2000 annual conference. Havel's political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism,
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, civil activism, and direct democracy. He supported the Czech Green Party from 2004 until his death. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the
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, the Four Freedoms Award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, and the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award. The 2012–2013 academic year at the
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was named in his honour. He is considered by some to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. The international
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in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
was renamed Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2012.


Early life

Havel was born in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
on 5 October 1936 into a wealthy family celebrated in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
for its entrepreneurial and cultural accomplishments. His grandfather, Vácslav Havel, a real estate developer, built a landmark entertainment complex on Prague's Wenceslas Square. His father, Václav Maria Havel, was the real estate developer behind the suburban Barrandov Terraces, located on the highest point of Prague—next door to which his uncle, Miloš Havel, built one of the largest film studios in Europe. Havel's mother, Božena Vavrečková, also came from an influential family; her father was a Czechoslovak ambassador and a well-known journalist. In the early 1950s, because of his class background, Havel entered into a four-year apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant and simultaneously took evening classes at a gymnasium. He completed his secondary education in 1954. For political reasons, he was not accepted into any post-secondary school with a humanities program; therefore, he opted for studies at the Faculty of Economics of the Czech Technical University in Prague but dropped out after two years. On 9 July 1964, Havel married Olga Šplíchalová.


Early theatre career

The intellectual tradition of his family was essential for Havel's lifetime adherence to the humanitarian values of the Czech culture. After finishing his
military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...
(1957–59), Havel had to bring his intellectual ambitions in line with the given circumstances, especially with the restrictions imposed on him as a descendant of a bourgeois family. He found employment in Prague's theatre world as a stagehand at Prague's Theatre ABC – ''Divadlo ABC'', and then at the Theatre on Balustrade – ''Divadlo Na zábradlí''. Simultaneously, he was a student of dramatic arts by correspondence at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). His first own full-length play performed in public, besides various vaudeville collaborations, was '' The Garden Party'' (1963). Presented in a series of Theatre of the Absurd, at the Theatre on Balustrade, this play won him international acclaim. The play was soon followed by '' The Memorandum'', one of his best known plays, and '' The Increased Difficulty of Concentration'', all at the Theatre on Balustrade. In 1968, ''The Memorandum'' was also brought to The Public Theater in New York, which helped to establish Havel's reputation in the United States. The Public Theater continued to produce his plays in the following years. After 1968, Havel's plays were banned from the theatre world in his own country, and he was unable to leave Czechoslovakia to see any foreign performances of his works.


Political dissident

During the first week of the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...
in August 1968, Havel assisted the resistance by providing an on-air narrative via Radio Free Czechoslovakia station (at Liberec). Following the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, he was banned from the theatre and became more politically active. He took a job at Krakonoš brewery in Trutnov, an experience he wrote about in his play ''Audience''. This play, along with two other "Vaněk" plays (so-called because of the recurring character Ferdinand Vaněk, a stand in for Havel), became distributed in samizdat form across Czechoslovakia, and greatly added to Havel's reputation of being a leading dissident (several other Czech writers later wrote their own plays featuring Vaněk). This reputation was cemented with the publication of the ''
Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...
'' manifesto, written partially in response to the imprisonment of members of the Czech
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band The Plastic People of the Universe; Havel had attended their trial, which centered on the group's non-conformity in having long hair, using obscenities in their music, and their overall involvement in the Prague underground movement. Havel co-founded the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted in 1979. His political activities resulted in multiple imprisonments by the authorities, and constant government surveillance and questioning by the secret police ( Státní bezpečnost). His longest period in prison, from May 1979 to February 1983, is documented in letters to his wife that were later published as '' Letters to Olga''. He was known for his essays, most particularly '' The Power of the Powerless'' (1978), in which he described a societal paradigm in which citizens were forced to "live within a lie" under the Communist regime. In describing his role as a dissident, Havel wrote in 1979: "we never decided to become dissidents. We have been transformed into them, without quite knowing how, sometimes we have ended up in prison without precisely knowing how. We simply went ahead and did certain things that we felt we ought to do, and that seemed to us decent to do, nothing more nor less." Samuel Beckett's 1982 short play, '' Catastrophe'', was dedicated to Havel while he was held as a political prisoner in Czechoslovakia. Both plays were published by
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...
, which in 2022 requested a followup play on similar themes from the Iranian playwright Reza Shirmarz.


Presidency

On 29 December 1989, while he was leader of the Civic Forum, Havel became President of Czechoslovakia by a unanimous vote of the Federal Assembly. He had long insisted that he was not interested in politics and had argued that political change in the country should be induced through autonomous civic initiatives rather than through the official institutions. In 1990, soon after his election, Havel was awarded the Prize For Freedom of the
Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...
. In 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first free elections in 44 years, resulting in a sweeping victory for Civic Forum and its Slovak counterpart, Public Against Violence. Between them, they commanded strong majorities in both houses of the legislature, and tallied the highest popular vote share recorded for a free election in the country. Despite increasing political tensions between the Czechs and the Slovaks in 1992, Havel supported the retention of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic prior to the dissolution of the country. Havel sought re-election in 1992. Although no other candidate filed, when the vote came on 3 July, he failed to get a majority due to a lack of support from Slovak deputies. The largest Czech political party, the Civic Democratic Party, let it be known that it would not support any other candidate. After the Slovaks issued their Declaration of Independence, he resigned as president on 20 July, saying that he would not preside over the country's breakup. However, when the Czech Republic was created as one of two successor states, he stood for election as its first president on 26 January 1993, and won. Although he was nominally the new country's chief executive, the framers of the Constitution of the Czech Republic intended to vest most of the real power in the prime minister. However, owing to his prestige, he still commanded great moral authority, and the presidency acquired a greater role than the framers intended. For instance, largely due to his influence, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), successor to the KSC's branch in the Czech Lands, was kept on the margins for most of his presidency. Havel suspected that the KSCM was still an unreformed Stalinist party. Havel's popularity abroad surpassed his popularity at home, and he was often the object of controversy and criticism. During his time in office, Havel stated that the expulsion of the indigenous Sudeten German population after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was immoral, causing a great controversy at home. He also extended general amnesty as one of his first acts as president, in an attempt to lessen the pressure in overcrowded prisons as well as to release political prisoners and persons who may have been falsely imprisoned during the Communist era. Havel felt that many of the decisions by the previous regime's courts should not be trusted, and that most of those in prison had not received fair trials. However, critics claimed that this amnesty led to a significant increase in the crime rate: the total number of crimes doubled, as did the number of murders. Several of the worst crimes in the history of the Czech criminology were committed by criminals released in this amnesty. Within four years of the Velvet Revolution (and following another two amnesties declared by Havel), criminality had more than tripled since 1989. In an interview with Karel Hvížďala (included in ''To the Castle and Back''), Havel expressed his feeling that it was his most important accomplishment as president to have contributed to the dissolution of the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
. According to his statement the dissolution was very complicated. The infrastructure created by the Warsaw Pact was part of the economies of all member states, and the Pact's dissolution necessitated restructuring that took many years to complete. Following a legal dispute with his sister-in-law Dagmar Havlová (wife of his brother Ivan M. Havel), Havel decided to sell his 50% stake in the Lucerna Palace on Wenceslas Square in Prague, built from 1907 to 1921 by his grandfather, also named Václav Havel (spelled Vácslav,) one of the multifunctional "palaces" in the center of the once booming pre-World War II Prague. In a transaction arranged by Marián Čalfa, Havel sold the estate to Václav Junek, a former Communist spy in France and head of the soon-to-be bankrupt conglomerate Chemapol Group, who later openly admitted that he bribed politicians of the Czech Social Democratic Party. His close friend was Ivan Medek, who became the chief of the president's office. In January 1996, Olga Havlová, his wife of 32 years, died of cancer at 62. In December 1996, Havel who had been a chain smoker for a long time, was diagnosed with lung cancer. The disease reappeared two years later. He quit smoking. In 1997, he remarried, to actress
Dagmar Veškrnová Dagmar may refer to: People * Dagmar (given name), a feminine Scandinavian and German given name * Berthe Dagmar (1884–1934), French film actress * Dagmar (actress) (1921–2001), main stage name of American actress Virginia Ruth Egnor * Dagma ...
. Havel was among those influential politicians who contributed most to the transition of
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from being an anti-
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alliance to its present form. Havel advocated vigorously for the inclusion of former-Warsaw Pact members, like the Czech Republic, into the Western alliance. Havel was re-elected president in 1998. He had to undergo a colostomy in
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when his colon ruptured while he was on holiday in Austria. On 30 January 2003, Havel signed '' The letter of the eight'' supporting planned U.S. invasion of Iraq. Havel left office after his second term as Czech president ended on 2 February 2003. Václav Klaus, one of his greatest political adversaries, was elected his successor as president on 28 February 2003.
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wrote of the two men in her foreign policy treatise , reserving the greater respect for Havel. Havel's dedication to democracy and his steadfast opposition to communist ideology earned him admiration.


Post-presidential career

Beginning in 1997, Havel hosted Forum 2000, an annual conference to "identify the key issues facing civilisation and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components". In 2005, the former president occupied the Kluge Chair for Modern Culture at the John W. Kluge Center of the United States
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
, where he continued his research on human rights. In November and December 2006, Havel spent eight weeks as a visiting artist in residence at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. The stay was sponsored by the Columbia Arts Initiative and featured "performances, and panels centr ngon his life and ideas", including a public "conversation" with former U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. Concurrently, the Untitled Theater Company No. 61 launched a Havel Festival, the first complete festival of his plays in various venues throughout New York City, including The Brick Theater and the Ohio Theatre, in celebration of his 70th birthday. Havel was a member of the World Future Society and addressed the Society's members on 4 July 1994. His speech was later printed in THE FUTURIST magazine (July 1995). Havel was greatly admired by Czech citizens. In the poll taken for the 2005 TV show '' Největší Čech'' (the Czech spin-off of the BBC '' 100 Greatest Britons''), Havel placed third. Havel's memoir of his experience as president, ''To the Castle and Back'', was published in May 2007. The book mixes an interview in the style of ''Disturbing the Peace'' with actual memoranda he sent to his staff and modern diary entries and recollections. On 4 August 2007, Havel met with members of the Belarus Free Theatre at his summer cottage in the Czech Republic in a show of his continuing support, which has been instrumental in the theatre's attaining international recognition and membership in the European Theatrical Convention.Michael Batiukov
"Belarus 'Free Theatre' is Under Attack by Militia in Minsk, Belarus"
, ''American Chronicle'', 22 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
Havel went on a hunger strike in 2007 to support Kurdish doctor and human rights activist Yekta Uzunoglu in his legal battle. A former president going on a hunger strike to support the legal battle of a foreigner in his country was a first in world history. Havel's first new play in almost two decades, '' Leaving'', was published in November 2007, and was to have had its world premiere in June 2008 at the Prague Vinohrady Theatre,Adam Hetrick
"Václav Havel's ''Leaving'' May Arrive in American Theatres"
''Playbill'', 19 November 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
but the theater withdrew it in December as it felt it could not provide the technical support needed to mount the play. The play instead premiered on 22 May 2008 at the Archa Theatre to standing ovations. Havel based the play on ''
King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...
'', by
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, and on ''
The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...
'', by
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...
; "Chancellor Vilém Rieger is the central character of ''Leaving'', who faces a crisis after being removed from political power." The play had its English language premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in London and its American premiere at The Wilma Theater in
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. Havel subsequently directed a film version of the play, which premiered in the Czech Republic on 22 March 2011. Other works included the short sketch ''Pět Tet'', a modern sequel to ''Unveiling'', and '' The Pig, or Václav Havel's Hunt for a Pig'', which was premiered in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
at Theatre Goose on a String and had its English language premiere at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in New York, in a production from Untitled Theater Company No. 61, in a production workshopped in the Ice Factory Festival in 2011 and later revived as a full production in 2014, becoming a ''
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'' Critic's Pick. In 2008, Havel became a Member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation. He met U.S. President
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in private before Obama's departure after the end of the
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(EU) and United States (US) summit in Prague in April 2009. Havel was the chair of the Human Rights Foundation's International Council and a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Havel was a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system. From the 1980s, Havel supported the
green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
movement, partly due to his friendship with the co-founder of the German Alliance 90/The Greens party Milan Horáček. From 2004 until his death, he supported the Czech Green Party.


Death

A week before his death, he met with his long-time friend, the Dalai Lama, in Prague; Havel appeared in a wheelchair. He died in the morning of 18 December 2011, at the age of 75, at his country home in Hrádeček.
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Petr Nečas Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 20 ...
announced a three-day mourning period from 21 to 23 December, the date announced by President Václav Klaus for the
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
. The funeral Mass was held at Saint Vitus Cathedral, celebrated by the Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka and Havel's old friend Bishop Václav Malý. During the service, a 21 gun salute was fired in the former president's honour, and in accordance with the family's request, a private ceremony followed at Prague's Strašnice Crematorium. Havel's ashes were placed in the family tomb in the Vinohrady Cemetery in Prague. On 23 December 2011, the Václav Havel Tribute Concert was held in Prague's Palác Lucerna.


Reactions

Within hours Havel's death was met with numerous tributes, including from U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President
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. Merkel called Havel "a great European", while Wałęsa said he should have been given the
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. The Russian Embassy sent an official condolence on behalf of the President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister
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.
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declared 23 December a day of national mourning. At the news of his death, former U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...
, a native of Czechoslovakia, said, "He was one of the great figures of the 20th Century", while Czech expatriate novelist Milan Kundera said: "Václav Havel's most important work is his own life." Leader of Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, Vojtěch Filip, stated that Havel was a very controversial person and that his words often conflicted with his deeds. He criticized Havel for having supported the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, repeating the charge that Havel had called the event a "humanitarian bombing", although Havel had expressly and emphatically denied ever using such a phrase. An online petition organized by one of the best-known Czech and Slovak film directors, Fero Fenič, calling on the government and the Parliament to rename Prague Ruzyně Airport to Václav Havel International Airport attracted—in a week after 20 December 2011—support of over 80,000 Czech Republic and foreign signatories. It was announced that the airport would be renamed the Václav Havel Airport Prague on 5 October 2012. Reviewing a new biography by Michael Žantovský, Yale historian Marci Shore summarized his challenges as president: "Havel's message, 'We are all responsible, we are all guilty,' was not popular. He enacted a general amnesty for all but the most serious criminals, apologized on behalf of Czechoslovakia for the post-World War II expulsion of the Sudeten Germans and resisted demands for a more draconian purge of secret police collaborators. These things were not popular either. And as the government undertook privatization and restitution, Havel confronted pyramid schemes, financial corruption and robber baron capitalism. He saw his country fall apart (if bloodlessly), becoming in 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia."


Awards

In 1986, Havel received the Erasmus Prize, in 1989 the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels, and in 1990, he received the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize for his outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community. In the same year he received the Freedom medal. In 1993, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
. On 4 July 1994, Václav Havel was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal. In his acceptance speech, he said: "The idea of human rights and freedoms must be an integral part of any meaningful world order. Yet I think it must be anchored in a different place, and in a different way, than has been the case so far. If it is to be more than just a slogan mocked by half the world, it cannot be expressed in the language of departing era, and it must not be mere froth floating on the subsiding waters of faith in a purely scientific relationship to the world." Havel was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1995. In 1997, Havel received '' ex aequo'' the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities and the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca. In 1998, the jury of the Europe Theatre Prize awarded him a special prize by the President Jack Lang. In 2001, he was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. In 2002, he was the third recipient of the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award presented by the Prague Society for International Cooperation. In 2003, he was awarded the International Gandhi Peace Prize by the
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for his outstanding contribution towards world peace and upholding human rights in most difficult situations through Gandhian means; he was the inaugural recipient of
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
's Ambassador of Conscience Award for his work in promoting human rights; he received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom; and he was appointed as an honorary Companion of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
. In 2008 he was also awarded the Giuseppe Motta Medal for support for peace and democracy. As a former Czech President, Havel was a member of the Club of Madrid. In 2009 he was awarded the Quadriga Award, but decided to return it in 2011 following the announcement of
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
as one of the 2011 award recipients. Havel also received multiple honorary doctorates from various universities such as the prestigious Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in 2009, and was a Foreign Associate Member of the French from October 1992 until his death. On 10 October 2011, Havel was awarded by the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with the St. George Victory Order. In November 2014, he became only the fourth non-American honored with a bust in the U.S. Capitol.


State honours and awards


Honours


Awards

* : Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (1993),
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
* : Geuzenpenning (1995), Vlaardingen * : Europe Theatre Prize - Special Prize (1998), Taormina * : Gandhi Peace Prize (08/2003),
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...


Memorials


Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent

In April 2012, Havel's widow, Dagmar Havlová, authorized the creation of the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. The prize was created by the New York-based Human Rights Foundation and is awarded at the annual Oslo Freedom Forum. The prize "will celebrate those who engage in creative dissent, exhibiting courage and creativity to challenge injustice and live in truth".


Václav Havel Library

The Václav Havel Library, located in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, is a charitable organization founded by Dagmar Havlová, Karel Schwarzenberg and Miloslav Petrusek on 26 July 2004. It maintains a collection of pictorial, audio and written materials and other artefacts linked to Václav Havel. The institution gathers these materials for the purpose of digitisation, documentation and research and to promote his ideas. It organises lectures, holds conferences and social and cultural events that introduce the public to the work of Václav Havel and club discussion meetings on current social issues. In May 2012, the library opened a branch in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
named the Václav Havel Library Foundation. In 2014, the Václav Havel Library moved to larger premises at Ostrovni 13, in the centre of Prague.


Václav Havel Building of the European Parliament

In July 2017, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
opened a new building on its official Strasbourg site. The building was named after Havel and decorated with a bust of the former Czech president.


Václav Havel Memory in Zagreb

On 4 October 2016, the day before what would have been the 80th birthday of Václav Havel, his photograph was presented on a fountain in Croatian capital
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. Croatian-Czech Society proposed the Václav Havel Street in Zagreb.


Václav Havel Boulevard and memorial plaque in Kyiv

In November 2016, Václav Havel Boulevard was opened in
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, Ukraine. The new name has replaced the one given during Soviet era when boulevard was named in honor of the Communist politician Jānis Lepse. In December, First Deputy Chairman Iryna Herashchenko along with Minister of Culture of
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
Daniel Herman and Minister of Culture of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
Yevhen Nyshchuk opened memorial plaque in honor of Václav Havel.


Václav Havel Bench

The Václav Havel Bench ( Havel's Place) is an artistic and urban utility project, created by Czech architect and designer Bořek Šípek. It is composed of two wooden garden chairs connected by a round table, which has a hole inside. A linden, the Czech national tree, is growing through this hole. These benches can be found in many Czech towns as well as in some foreign locations such as Washington, D.C.,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, and
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.


Sculptures and busts

On 19 November 2014, a bust of Havel, created by Czech-American artist Lubomír Janečka, was unveiled at the U.S. Congress, commemorating the 25-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Havel is the fourth European ever to be honored by having a bust of himself in the U.S. Congress, after
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, Raoul Wallenberg and
Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...
. Another sculpture of Havel is placed in a boardroom of Leinster House in Dublin, the historical seat of the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
, the Irish National Parliament. On 22 June 2017 a statue of Václav Havel created by Georgian sculptor Jumber Jikia was unveiled in
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
, Georgia. The Václav Havel Library Foundation donated a bust of Havel to
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in New York City. This bust was unveiled on 27 September 2018 while Havel was being honored by former US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...
.


Works


Collections of poetry

* ''Čtyři rané básně'' (''Four Early Poems'') * ''Záchvěvy I & II'', 1954 (''Quivers I & II'') * ''První úpisy'', 1955 (''First promissory notes'') * ''Prostory a časy'', 1956 (''Spaces and times'') * ''Na okraji jara (cyklus básní)'', 1956 (''At the edge of spring (poetry cycle)'') * '' Antikódy'', 1964 (''Anticodes'')


Plays

* ''Life Ahead/You Have Your Whole Life Ahead of You'', 1959, (''Život před sebou'') with Karel Brynda * ''Motomorphosis/Motormorphosis'', 1960/1961, (''Motomorfóza''), a sketch from ''Autostop'' * '' Ela, Hela, and the Hitch'', 1960/1961, (''Ela, Hela a stop''), a sketch for ''Autostop''; discarded from the play, lost; found in 2009; published in 2011 * ''An Evening with the Family'', 1960, (''Rodinný večer'') * ''The Best Years of Missis Hermanová'', 1962, (''Nejlepší rocky paní Hermanové'') with Miloš Macourek * '' The Garden Party'' (''Zahradní slavnost''), 1963 * '' The Memorandum'' (or '' The Memo''), 1965, (''Vyrozumění'') * '' The Increased Difficulty of Concentration'', 1968, (''Ztížená možnost soustředění'') * '' Butterfly on the Antenna'', 1968, (''Motýl na anténě'') * ''
Guardian Angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...
'', 1968, (''Anděl strážný'') * '' Conspirators'', 1971, (''Spiklenci'') * '' The Beggar's Opera'', 1975, (''Žebrácká opera'') * ''
Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
'', 1975, (''Audience'') – a Vanӗk play * '' Unveiling'', 1975, (''Vernisáž'') – a Vanӗk play * '' Mountain Hotel'' 1976, (''Horský hotel'') * '' Protest'', 1978, (''Protest'') – a Vanӗk play * '' Mistake'', 1983, (''Chyba'')  * '' Largo desolato'' 1984, (''Largo desolato'') * '' Temptation'', 1985, (''Pokoušení'') * '' Redevelopment'', 1987, (''Asanace'') * '' The Pig, or Václav Havel's Hunt for a Pig'' (''Prase, aneb Václav Havel's Hunt for a Pig''), 1987; published in 2010; premiered in 2010, co-authored by Vladimír Morávek * '' Tomorrow'', 1988, (''Zítra to spustíme'') * '' Leaving'' (''Odcházení''), 2007 * '' Dozens of Cousins'' (''Pět Tet''), 2010, a Vanӗk play, a short sketch/sequel to ''Unveiling''


Nonfiction books

* '' The Power of the Powerless'' (1985) [Includes 1978 titular essay
Online
* ''Living in Truth'' (1986) * '' Letters to Olga'' (Dopisy Olze) (1988) * ''Disturbing the Peace (Václav Havel), Disturbing the Peace'' (1991) * '' Open Letters'' (1991) * '' Summer Meditations'' (Letní přemítání) (1992/93) * '' Toward a Civil Society'' (1994) * '' The Art of the Impossible'' (1998) * '' To the Castle and Back'' (2007)


Fiction books for children

* ''Pizh'duks''


Films

* '' Odcházení'', 2011


Music

* Havel was a major supporter of The Plastic People of the Universe, and close friend of its leader, Milan Hlavsa, its manager, Ivan Martin Jirous, and its guitarist/vocalist, Paul Wilson (who later became Havel's English translator and biographer) and a great fan of the rock band
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...
, sharing mutual respect with the principal singer-songwriter
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...
. Reed interviewed Havel in his book "Between Thought And Expression." Havel was also a lifelong
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
fan.Sam Beckwith
"Václav Havel & Lou Reed"
''Prague.tv'' 24 January 2005, updated 27 January 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
* Havel was also a great supporter and fan of jazz and frequented such Prague clubs as Radost FX and the Reduta Jazz Club, where U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
played the saxophone when Havel brought him there. * Havel befriended
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
after he evaded arrest by pretending to be her roadie.


Cultural references

Václav Havel has been portrayed, as himself or a character based on him, in a number of feature and television films: * '' Czech Century'' is a 2013 historical television series chronicling Czech history from 1989. Havel is portrayed by Marek Daniel. ** Marek Daniel also portrayed Havel in a satirical web series, '' Kancelář Blaník''. * ''
Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...
'' is a 2020 historical film about Havel's ( Viktor Dvořák) life before 1989. * The Prog-related Art-rock band, Toy Matinee, recorded a song about Havel, entitled "Remember My Name" from their 1990 eponymous album released by Reprise Records. * Havel is mentioned in the song " La Vie Bohème" from the 1996 musical '' Rent.'' * Havel is an incredibly strong, heavily armored, dragon-tooth-wielding NPC character in the '' Dark Souls'' series.


See also

*
Civil resistance Civil resistance is a form of political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and co ...
* Hrad (politics) * List of peace activists * Nonviolent resistance * Mlýny, Czech comedy play * Václav Havel Human Rights Prize


References


Primary sources

Works by Václav Havel
Commentaries and Op-eds by Václav Havel
and in conjunction betwee
Václav Havel and other renowned world leaders
for '' Project Syndicate''.
"Excerpts from ''The Power of the Powerless'' (1978)"
by Václav Havel. "Excerpts from the Original Electronic Text provided by Bob Moeller, of the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
."
"The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World"
(Speech republished in THE FUTURIST magazine). Retrieved 19 December 2011 * . ''Czech.cz'' (Official website of the Czech Republic), 10 September 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007. On personal responsibility, freedom and ecological problems.
Two Messages
Václav Havel on the Kundera affair, English, salon.eu.sk, October 2008 Media interviews with Václav Havel
After the Velvet, an Existential Revolution?
dialogue between Václav Havel and Adam Michnik, English, salon.eu.sk, November 2008 * Warner, Margaret
"Online Focus: Newsmaker: Václav Havel"
'' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer''. PBS, broadcast 16 May 1997. Retrieved 21 December 2007. (NewsHour transcript.)


Biographies

* Keane, John. ''Václav Havel: A Political Tragedy in Six Acts''. New York: Basic Books, 2000. . (A sample chapter n HTML and Portable Document Format">PDF formats">HTML">n_HTML<_a>_and_Portable_Document_Form.html" ;"title="HTML.html" ;"title="n HTML">n HTML and Portable Document Format">PDF formatsis linked on the author's website
"Books"
.) * Kriseová, Eda. ''Václav Havel''. Trans. Caleb Crain. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. . * Pontuso, James F. ''Václav Havel: Civic Responsibility in the Postmodern Age''. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. . * Rocamora, Carol. ''Acts of Courage''. New York: Smith & Kraus, 2004. . * Symynkywicz, Jeffrey. ''Václav Havel and the Velvet Revolution''. Parsippany, New Jersey: Dillon Press, 1995. . * Williams, Kieran.
Václav Havel.
' London: Reaktion Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-78023-665-0. * * Barton, David Gilbreath (2021) Havel: Unfinished Revolution.
University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...
.


External links


Václav Havel Library, Prague

Knihovna Vaclava Havla (Vaclav Havel Library) at Google Cultural Institute

Encyclopædia Britannica's biography of Václav Havel

Watch ''Citizen Havel'', a film about Václav Havel, at www.dafilms.com
* * * *
Václav Havel archive
from ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
''
Havel at Columbia: Bibliography: Human Rights Archive

Radio Prague's detailed account of Havel's life







The Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation

Last interview, given to ''The European Strategist''

Václav Havel
'' Freedom Collection'' interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Havel, Vaclav 1936 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Czech male writers 20th-century Czech non-fiction writers 20th-century Czech philosophers 20th-century Czech poets 20th-century Czech politicians 20th-century Czech writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century letter writers 20th-century memoirists 20th-century presidents in Europe 21st-century Czech dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Czech male writers 21st-century Czech non-fiction writers 21st-century Czech people 21st-century Czech poets 21st-century Czech politicians 21st-century essayists 21st-century memoirists Absurdist writers Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Czechoslovakia Anti-consumerists Autobiographers Candidates in the 1993 Czech presidential election Candidates in the 1998 Czech presidential election Charter 77 signatories Civic Democratic Alliance presidential candidates Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) presidential candidates Civic Forum politicians Club of Rome members Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Collars of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Collars of the Order of the White Lion Columbia University fellows Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Constructed language creators Critics of postmodernism Czech activists Czech anti-communists Czech children's writers Czech critics Czech environmentalists Czech essayists Czech literary historians Czech male dramatists and playwrights Czech male poets Czech political philosophers Czech political writers Czech prisoners and detainees Czech satirists Czech Social Democratic Party presidential candidates Czech surrealist writers Czech Technical University in Prague alumni Czechoslovak critics Czechoslovak democracy activists Czechoslovak dissidents Czechoslovak military personnel Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Direct democracy activists Environmental philosophers Environmental writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Film directors from Prague Grand Collars of the Order of Liberty Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Honorary companions of the Order of Canada Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath International Simón Bolívar Prize recipients KDU-ČSL presidential candidates Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Literacy and society theorists Literary theorists Magic realism writers Members of the American Philosophical Society Olof Palme Prize laureates People of the Cold War People of the Velvet Revolution Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of history Philosophers of literature Philosophers of social science Philosophers of war Philosophy writers Political prisoners in former countries Politicians from Prague Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Presidents of Czechoslovakia Presidents of the Czech Republic Recipients of St. George's Order of Victory Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana Recipients of the Gandhi Peace Prize Recipients of the Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class Recipients of the Thalia Award Social philosophers Sustainability advocates Theatre of the Absurd Theatre theorists Theatrologists Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Writers about communism Writers about globalization Writers about theatre Writers from Prague Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Burials at Vinohrady Cemetery Czech political artists