Václav Havel

October 5, 1936 – December 18, 2011 · Playwright & President · Czech Republic

“Truth and love must prevail”

Playwright, dissident, and statesman who led Czechoslovakia out of communism and became the first president of the Czech Republic, embodying the moral force of the Velvet Revolution.

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Their story

Václav Havel was born in Prague in 1936 into a prominent family whose property was seized after the communist takeover, barring him from formal higher education. He found his voice in the theatre, working his way up from stagehand at the Theatre on the Balustrade to resident playwright. Absurdist plays such as The Garden Party and The Memorandum made him an internationally recognized dramatist by the mid-1960s.

After the Soviet-led invasion of 1968, Havel's works were banned and he became the regime's most visible critic. He co-authored the human rights manifesto Charter 77 and the essay The Power of the Powerless, spending nearly five years in prison for his convictions. In November 1989 he stood at the center of the Velvet Revolution, and within weeks the dissident was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia and, from 1993 to 2003, the first president of the Czech Republic, guiding the country toward NATO and the European Union. He remained a writer at heart, insisting that politics must answer to conscience. Prague's international airport now bears his name, and his call for living in truth endures as his legacy.

A life in moments

1936
Born in Prague into a well-known entrepreneurial and intellectual family.
1963
His first full-length play, The Garden Party, premiered at the Theatre on the Balustrade.
1977
Co-authored and became a leading spokesman of the human rights manifesto Charter 77.
1989
Led the Velvet Revolution and was elected president of Czechoslovakia in December.
1993
Became the first president of the newly independent Czech Republic, serving until 2003.
2011
Died on 18 December at his country home in Hrádeček, mourned across the world.
Today
Remembered as the conscience of a nation; Prague's airport carries his name and his plays remain on world stages.