Vaclav Havel
Vaclav Havel (1936), Czech statesman, playwright, and essayist. Having been prevented from studying drama because of his anti-communist background, Havel began his career as a stagehand. By the mid -L960s he was writing such absurdist plays as The Garden Party (1963) and The Memorandum (1965) for Prague’s Theatre on the Balustrade. Following the Soviet led invasion of 1968 his work was banned in Czechoslovakia; such later plays as Largo Desolato (1983) and Temptation (1985) were, however, well received in the West. For his continuing dissident activities Havel was imprisoned in 1979-83 and again in 1985, becoming the chief figure-head of opposition to the communist regime. After the fall of communism in November 1989, Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia. Having failed to prevent the break-up of the country he resigned that position in 1992, becoming president of the new Czech Republic the following year. He has continued to publish volumes of political and moral essays, such as Summer Meditations (1992).
