"Václav Havel, the dissident playwright who wove theater into politics to peacefully bring down communism in Czechoslovakia and become a hero of the epic struggle that ended the Cold War, has died. He was 75." Karel Janicek for the AP: "Havel was his country's first democratically elected president after the nonviolent 'Velvet Revolution' that ended four decades of repression by a regime he ridiculed as 'Absurdistan.' … Havel left office in 2003, 10 years after Czechoslovakia broke up and just months before both nations joined the European Union. He was credited with laying the groundwork that brought his Czech Republic into the 27-nation bloc, and was president when it joined Nato in 1999. Shy and bookish, with wispy mustache and unkempt hair, Havel came to symbolize the power of the people to peacefully overcome totalitarian rule."
"In his youth he formed a literary circle called Thirty-Sixers, after the year of its members' birth," notes Books and Writers.
"In his youth he formed a literary circle called Thirty-Sixers, after the year of its members' birth," notes Books and Writers.
- 12/18/2011
- MUBI
Getty Images A portrait of former Czech President Vaclav Havel, with a text that reads: “Havel To The Castle,” a popular slogan during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, lies among candles left by mourners at the base of a statue of St. Wenceslas to commemorate Havel’s death on December 18, 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Václav Havel, the politician and playwright, died today. I met him several times over the last few years. My encounters were only brief scenes, but they offered...
Václav Havel, the politician and playwright, died today. I met him several times over the last few years. My encounters were only brief scenes, but they offered...
- 12/18/2011
- by Gwen Orel
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
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