Czech playwright-turned-president whose absurdist theater critiqued the regime and whose dissident leadership ended communist rule
In February 1969, Havel published 'Český úděl?' in the journal Tvář, rebutting Kundera's lyrical nationalism: 'I do not believe in this fate… first and foremost we ourselves are the masters of our fate.'
Czech playwright, dissident, and statesman. His absurdist plays The Garden Party (1963) and The Memorandum (1965) won international acclaim for their satire of the Communist system. After the Prague Spring was crushed in 1968, he answered Milan Kundera's 'Český úděl' with 'Český úděl?', arguing the reforms had merely restored freedoms that existed thirty years earlier, and turned fully to dissident politics. He co-founded Charter 77, endured nearly four years in prison (1979–1983), led the Civic Forum in the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and became the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic.
Career Timeline
- 1963The Garden Party premieres, playwright debut
- 1968Resists via Radio Free Czechoslovakia during Warsaw Pact invasion
- 1969Publishes 'Český úděl?' in Tvář, rebutting Kundera
- 1977Co-founds Charter 77; first spokesperson
- 1979–1983Imprisoned for dissident activity; writes Letters to Olga
- 1989Leads Civic Forum in the Velvet Revolution
- 1989–1992President of Czechoslovakia
- 1993–2003President of the Czech Republic
Related historical events
- 1968The Prague SpringPlaywright who rebutted Kundera with 'The Czech Fate?' and offered a sober assessment of the Prague SpringIn February 1969 he published 'The Czech Fate?' in Tvář, rebutting Kundera: what the Prague Spring achieved was merely the restoration of basic freedoms commonplace in the civilized world.
- 1975The Helsinki AccordsCharter 77 co-spokespersonIn January 1977 he co-issued Charter 77, demanding that Czechoslovakia honor the Helsinki Final Act and its domestic human-rights laws.