Václav Havel

Václav Havel
1st President of the Czech Republic
In office 2 February 1993 – 2 February 2003
Prime Minister	Václav Klaus Josef Tošovský Miloš Zeman Vladimír Špidla
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Václav Klaus
10th President of Czechoslovakia
In office 29 December 1989 – 20 July 1992
Prime Minister	Marián Čalfa Jan Stráský
Preceded by	Gustáv Husák
Succeeded by	Jan Stráský (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1936-10-05)5 October 1936 Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)
Died	18 December 2011(2011-12-18) (aged 75) Hrádeček, Czech Republic
Political party	Civic Forum
Spouse(s)	Olga Šplíchalová (1964–1996, her death) Dagmar Veškrnová (1997–2011, his death)
Alma mater	Czech Technical University in Prague Faculty of Theatre
Profession	Playwright
Signature
Website	www.vaclavhavel.cz www.vaclavhavel-library.org

Václav Havel (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈɦavɛl]  ( listen)), 5 October 1936–18 December 2011, was a Czech playwright, essayist, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92). He then became the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He wrote more than twenty plays and many non-fiction works. Many of them were translated into multiple languages.

Beginning in the 1960s, Havel mostly wrote about the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became more and more active against the government. In 1977, he became famous internationally for his work on the human rights manifesto, Charter 77. He became known as a leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia. He was also sent to prison for these activities. The 1989, Havel became president during the "Velvet Revolution". As president, he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to an open democracy with several political parties. His country changed greatly during the thirteen years he was president. The Czech Republic separated from Slovakia, even though Havel was against separation. The Czech Republic also joined NATO and started negotiating membership in the European Union. The country became a member of the EU in 2004. He was one of the first people to sign the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.

Early life

Václav Havel was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on 5 October 1936. He grew up in a well-known and wealthy entrepreneurial and intellectual family. His family was active in culture and politics in Czechoslovakia from the 1920s to the 1940s. His father owned part of the suburb of Barrandov. This is the highest part of Prague. Havel's mother came from a well-known family. Her father was an ambassador and journalist. Havel completed his required education in 1951. However, the Communist government did not allow him to continue to study formally because of his bourgeois family background.

In the early 1950s, the young Havel entered a four-year apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant. He took evening classes at the same time and completed secondary education in 1954. None of the colleges or universities with humanities programs would accept Havel for political reasons. So, he chose to study at the Faculty of Economics of Czech Technical University in Prague. He dropped out after two years. In 1964, Havel married Olga Šplíchalová. His mother was against the marriage.

Presidency

Václav Havel and Karol Sidon (left), his friend and later chief Czech rabbi

Flag of the president of the Czech Republic

Havel was already leader of the Civic Forum, and on 29 December 1989, he became president. He left office after his second term as Czech president ended on 2 February 2003. Every member of the Federal Assembly voted to make him president. This was a surprising change because Havel had always said that he was not interested in politics. He and other dissidents had said that change should come from groups of people directly, not from the government.

Czechoslovakia had free elections in 1990. Havel won and continued to be president. Havel wanted to keep the federation of the Czechs and the Slovaks together during the breakup of Czechoslovakia. He supported keeping the country together even though this was difficult and there was a lot of pressure. On 3 July 1992 the federal parliament did not elect Havel — the only candidate — because Slovak MPs did not support him. Havel resigned as president on 20 July after the Slovaks issued their Declaration of Independence. He stood for election as president of the new Czech Republic in 1993. He won and became president of this new, separate country.

Havel was quite popular throughout his career. However, some of his actions caused controversy and criticism. One of his first acts as a president was to pardon many people. He wanted to reduce the number of people in overcrowded prisons and release people who had been put in prison during the Communist era even though they were innocent. He did not trust the decisions of a corrupt court of the previous government. He thought the courts had been unfair to most people in prison. Critics said that this amnesty caused more crime. In his memoir, To the Castle and Back, Havel wrote that most of the people he released had less than a year left to stay in prison. Statistics about this are not clear.

Havel said that the most important thing he did as president was breaking up the Warsaw Pact. Ending this group of countries was very complicated because the association was a deep part of how the countries worked. It took two years before the Soviet troops finally left Czechoslovakia completely.

Havel was very important to changing NATO. He helped change it from an anti-Warsaw Pact alliance to a group that includes former-Warsaw Pact members. Havel spoke very strongly for expanding of the military alliance into Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic.

Václav Havel (2010)

In memory of Václav Havel – Prague Dec.19th, 2011

Awards

He has received many awards, including:

• The Philadelphia Liberty Medal
• The freedom medal of the Four Freedoms Award
• The Ambassador of Conscience Award

State awards

Country	Awards	Date	Place
Argentina	Order of the Liberator San Martin Collar	09/1996	Buenos Aires
Austria	Decoration for Science and Art	11/2005	Vienna
Brazil	Order of the Southern Cross Grand Collar Order of Rio Branco Grand Cross	10/1990 09/1996	Prague Brasília
Canada	Order of Canada Honorary Companion	03/2004	Prague
Czech Republic	Order of the White Lion 1st Class (Civil Division) with Collar Chain Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1st Class	10/2003	Prague
Estonia	Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Collar of the Cross	04/1996	Tallinn
France	Légion d'honneur Grand Cross Order of Arts and Letters Commander	03/1990 02/2001	Paris
Germany	Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Special class of the Grand Cross	05/2000	Berlin
Hungary	Order of Merit of Hungary Grand Cross with Chain	09/2001	Prague
India	Gandhi Peace Prize	08/2003	Delhi
Italy	Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Cross with Cordon	04/2002	Rome
Jordan	Order of Hussein ibn' Ali Collar	09/1997	Amman
Latvia	Order of the Three Stars Grand Cross with Collar	08/1999	Prague
Lithuania	Order of Vytautas the Great Grand Cross	09/1999	Prague
Poland	Order of the White Eagle	10/1993	Warsaw
Portugal	Order of Liberty Grand Collar	12/1990	Lisbon
Republic of China	Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon	11/2004	Taipei
Slovakia	Order of the White Double Cross	01/2003	Bratislava
Slovenia	The Golden honorary Medal of Freedom	11/1993	Ljubljana
Spain	Order of Isabella the Catholic Grand Cross with Collar	07/1995	Prague
Turkey	National Decoration of Republic of Turkey	10/2000	Ankara
Ukraine	Order of Yaroslav the Wise	10/2006	Prague
United Kingdom	Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross (Civil Division)	03/1996	Prague
USA	Presidential Medal of Freedom	07/2003	Washington D.C.
Uruguay	Medal of the Republic	09/1996	Montevideo

Works

Havel with American poet, Hedwig Gorski

Collections of poetry

• Čtyři rané básně
• Záchvěvy I & II, 1954
• První úpisy, 1955
• Prostory a časy (poesie), 1956
• Na okraji jara (cyklus básní), 1956
• Anticodes, (Antikódy)

Plays

• Motormorphosis 1960
• An Evening with the Family, 1960, (Rodinný večer)
• The Garden Party (Zahradní slavnost), 1963
• The Memorandum, 1965, (Vyrozumění)
• The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, 1968, (Ztížená možnost soustředění)
• Butterfly on the Antenna, 1968, (Motýl na anténě)
• Guardian Angel, 1968, (Strážný anděl)
• Conspirators, 1971, (Spiklenci)
• The Beggar's Opera, 1975, (Žebrácká opera)
• Unveiling, 1975, (Vernisáž)
• Audience, 1975, (Audience) - a Vanӗk play
• Mountain Hotel 1976, (Horský hotel)
• Protest, 1978, (Protest) - a Vanӗk play
• Mistake, 1983, (Chyba) - a Vanӗk play
• Largo desolato 1984, (Largo desolato)
• Temptation, 1985, (Pokoušení)
• Redevelopment, 1987, (Asanace)
• Tomorrow, 1988, (Zítra to spustíme)
• Leaving (Odcházení), 2007

Non-fiction books

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