Václav Havel

Czech Writer/Statesman   -   [b.1936]

Baby-Biography

On 5th October 1936, Vaclav Havel is born in Prague into a prominent businessman's family. Access to higher education in Communist Czechoslovakia is denied him due to his "bourgeois" background. Between 1951 and 1955 he works as a chemical laboratory technician while attending high school evening classes. He produces his first literary works whilst in military service with the Czechoslovak army from 1957-1959.

Until the summer of 1968, Havel works at Prague's Theatre on the Balustrade, first as a stagehand and later as an assistant director and literary manager. He studies dramatic art theory at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and has his first plays produced, achieving major international success.

In 1968, Havel is active in the democratization and renewal of culture during the era known as "Prague Spring", which ends with the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968. He actively opposes the invasion and the resulting hard-line Communist policies. Subsequently, his work is banned in Czechoslovakia and his passport is confiscated. He moves from Prague to the country where he continues his activities against the Communist regime, including hosting concerts of banned music.

Havel openly opposes the government throughout the 1970s. Between 1977 and 1989, he is imprisoned several times for his beliefs, his longest prison term lasting from 1979 to 1983. In 1989, Havel emerges as one of the leaders of the November opposition movement - the "Velvet Revolution" - which brings about the end of Communist rule. He is elected President of Czechoslovakia on December 29.

On 20th July 1992, Havel resigns from the federal presidency after it becomes clear that the federation is heading for dissolution. On 26th January 1993, he is elected first President of the Czech Republic. He is re-elected on 20th January 1998, despite having undergone a lung-removal operation two years previously, when a small growth was diagnosed as cancerous.

Phespirit's Hero

Václav Havel is Phespirit's hero for his integrity, sensitivity, courage and endurance in realising his dream of bringing freedom, democracy and cultural regeneration to his home land. During an era of rapid change, political turmoil and, frequently, violent partition in Eastern Europe, Havel presided over TWO critical transitions - the move from Communism to democracy and the separation of the Czech and Slovak republics - without bloodshed or social oppression.

These achievements alone make Václav Havel unique in modern politics.

Additionally, Havel has maintained his position as a cultural icon, being prominent as a playwright, poet, dramatist, political essayist, and leading intellectual. Even in the highest office, he has not forgotten the cultural influences which inspired him during his darkest days. Upon his election, he named Frank Zappa as 'Cultural Liaison Officer' to the U.S.A. (much to the dismay of the Americans) and, during Havel's visit to the United States in 1998, he succeeded in his personal request that Lou Reed play at the state dinner in the White House.

An extraordinary individual. A true hero.