Havel, Vaclav, << HAH vehl, VAH tslahv >> (1936-2011), served as president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He had served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until shortly before that country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Havel was also an internationally known author.
Havel was born on Oct. 5, 1936, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the capital of the Czech Republic). After World War II (1939-1945), Communists came to power in Czechoslovakia. In the 1960’s, Havel began writing plays that illustrated the absurdities of life under the Communists. The government banned the publication or production of Havel’s plays. Havel spoke out against government oppression and was jailed several times. He continued to write plays and essays, despite the Communists’ attempts to silence him.
In 1989, Havel helped lead the Velvet Revolution, which peacefully ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. The national legislature elected Havel president in 1989 and again after free elections in 1990. A movement grew to split the country into two nations, one for the Czechs and one for the Slovaks. Havel opposed the movement, and in 1992, he resigned in protest. On Jan. 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. That same month, the legislature of the new Czech Republic elected Havel president. He was elected to a second and final term in 1998. As president, Havel often championed democratic ideals and other, sometimes controversial issues. Havel died on Dec. 18, 2011.
See also Czechoslovakia ; Czech Republic .
