speakers

Václav Havel

Writer and Dramatist; One of the first Spokesmen for Charter 77; Leading Figure of the Velvet Revolution of 1989; The last President of Czechoslovakia; and The first President of the post communist Czech Republic. Václav Havel grew up in a well-known entrepreneurial and intellectual family, which was closely linked to the cultural and political events in Czechoslovakia from the 1920"s to the 1940"s. The intellectual tradition of his family compelled Václav Havel to pursue the humanitarian values of Czech culture, which were harshly suppressed in the 1950"s. Following his return from two years of military service, he worked as a stage technician - first at Divadlo ABC, and then, in 1960, at Divadlo Na zabradli in Prague. From 1962 until 1966, he studied Drama by correspondence at the Faculty of Theatre of the Academy of Musical Arts, and completed his studies with a commentary on the play ?Eduard?, which became the basis of his own ?The Increased Difficulty of Concentration?. From the age of twenty years, Václav Havel published a number of studies and articles in various literary and theatrical periodicals. This civic self-awareness culminated in the historic Prague Spring of 1968. During this time Havel not only produced other plays, such as ?The Memorandum? (1965) and ?The Increased Difficulty of Concentration? (1968), but was also the chair of the Club of Independent Writers and a member of the Club of [Politically] Engaged Non-Partisans. From 1965, he worked at the non- Marxist monthly Tvar. Following the suppression of the Prague Spring by the invasion of the armies of the Warsaw Pact, Havel stood against the political repression characterized by the years of the so-called communist ?normalization?. In 1975, he wrote an open letter to President Husak, in which he warned of the accumulated antagonism in Czechoslovak society. The culmination of his activities resulted in Charter 77, it embodied the character of the Czechoslovak population which silently protested against the communist government. Václav Havel was one of the founders of this initiative, and one of its first three spokesmen. In April, 1979, he became a co-founder of the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted. He was imprisoned three times for his civic views, and spent nearly five years behind bars. During this time, Czechoslovak authorities made it impossible to publish any of Havel"s texts. Under the guidance of Havel"s former literary agent, Klaus Juncker, the German publishing company Rowohlt, based in Reinbek near Hamburg, compliled a nearly complete publication of Havel"s works. Due to his unyielding political stance through the years of communist totality, Václav Havel became a recognized moral authority. The depth of his perception of the problems of civilization and his contemplation of their formulation enabled him to become very well- respected, and as Head of State, and outstanding amongst politicians. For his literary and dramatic works, for his lifelong efforts and opinions, and for his position on the upholding of human rights, Václav Havel is the recipient of a number of state decorations, international awards and honorary doctorates.

Link:

www.vaclavhavel.cz