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| The Death of a Symbol |
| (2011-12-19) |
| Last updated: 2011-12-20 13:16 EET |
It was Havel whobrought an end to political totalitarianism in Prague in 1989, which earned him the reputation of Velvet Revolution hero. It was a time when Eastern Europe was seeing the dying breath of communism. Havel was also the first president of post-communist Czechoslovakia in the 1989-2001 period, and first president of the Czech Republic between 1993 and 2003.
His legacy - a country that become member of both NATO and the EU. A human rights advocate, president, playwright, film director, and a Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa fan, Vaclav Havel described himself as “the leader of the Czechoslovakian opposition”, seeing his spell at the helm of the state as merely a fleeting moment. “It’s true that I often start rather adventurous projects although I’m no adventurer”, Havel said in a magazine interview published in February this year. Havel refused to flee into exile following the 1968 Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia.
One year later, he joined the opposition and took an active role in drafting the Charter 77 human rights manifesto. In the wake of its publication, Havel spent fours year in imprisonment, during which time he wrote “Letters to Olga”, his first wife. The text was to become one of his prominent works. At the end of his term in office, in February 2003, the former anti-communist icon devoted his life to defending human rights in a series of countries, including Cuba, Belarus, Myanmar and Russia.
Vaclav Havel had political but also cultural ties to Romania. He paid two official visits to Bucharest. The first time was in 1994, when the Agreement on Friendly Relations and Cooperation between the Czech Republic and Romania was signed. On that occasion, the University of Bucharest awarded him the Doctor Honoris Causa degree. His second visit to Romania was in 2002. Havel won his recognition among the Romanian cultural community by means of his theatre plays, some of which were staged in Romania as well.
Romanian president Traian Basescu has expressed his condolences in an official press release, saying that quote ‘’a great contemporary consciousness has died with Vaclav Havel, an archenemy of totalitarianism and a strong champion of democracy. Havel was an iconic voice for freedom, and has relentlessly pleaded for human identity and its moral obligation.’ Unquote. The European political class has paid homage to the former Czech president, hailing him as ‘’a great hero of freedom and democracy and a pioneer of European unification”.
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2025-04-03
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