Havel, Václav

Czech dramatist, civil rights activist, and politician, president of Czechoslovakia 1989–92 and of the Czech Republic 1993–2003. A noted playwright, he participated in the ‘Prague spring’ liberal reforms in 1968, but his plays were banned after the Soviet clampdown later in the year. In 1977 he formed the human rights organization Charter 77, which pressed for democratic reforms, and was subsequently imprisoned 1979–83 and 1989 for dissident activity. He was popularly elected president after the bloodless ‘velvet revolution’ of November–December 1989, which saw the overthrow of the Communist Party following popular protests, and he became a much respected international statesman.

Born in Prague, he was educated at the Academy of Dramatic Art and became resident writer at the Prague Theatre on the Balustrade 1960–69. In the 1970s his plays were seen as subversive by the communist regime and were removed from libraries, and his passport was confiscated. In 1989 he became the leader of the Civic Forum, a democratic movement that participated in forming the new coalition government after the collapse of communism. As president of Czechoslovakia he sought to preserve a united republic, but resigned in recognition of the break-up of the federation in 1992. In 1993 he became the first president of the newly independent Czech Republic, and was re-elected in 1998.