Havel, Václav

Václav Hav­el (1936−2011) – play­wright, essay­ist, dis­si­dent, crit­ic of the com­mu­nist régime, lead­ing rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the so-called Vel­vet Rev­o­lu­tion in 1989. He co-found­ed the Civic Forum, on behalf of which he ran for the pres­i­den­cy, to which he was elect­ed on 29 Decem­ber 1989. After the break-up of Czecho­slo­va­kia in 1992, he resigned and served two terms as Pres­i­dent of the new­ly estab­lished Czech Repub­lic from 1993 to 2003.