Posted on 12/18/2011 4:25:47 AM PST by nuconvert
For Vaclav Havel, and for his people, everything changed in 1989, the year of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, when he led the extraordinary display of people power which toppled the ruling communist regime.
The world watched with astonishment as, within weeks, the dissident playwright became president.
Vaclav Havel was born in 1936. His father was a successful engineer and, by his own admission, young Vaclav was a pampered child from a wealthy family.
*Drama critic*
But when the communists came to power he saw his family lose everything.
The new government decided the young Havel was "too bourgeois" to be allowed a secondary education.
He organised one for himself, studying at night school, while working as a laboratory technician during the day.
The year 1968 brought the Prague Spring led by Alexander Dubcek, the first flowering of reform and of hope for Czechoslovakia.
Havel, now a successful playwright, could openly criticise old guard Stalinists, satirising them in drama, which won instant worldwide acclaim.
But the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia crushed the dreams of Havel and his generation. Suddenly, his work was banned in his homeland.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
An honorable patriot!
RIP
RIP
There goes a real man. RIP.
One of the great leaders in the fight against Communism. Not only was Havel instrumental in the ridding the Communists...he guided Czech Rep well in post-Commie era...even through the breakup with Slovakia
RIP
I’m saddened to hear this. I was stationed in Germany when Mr. Havel was at the forefront of the largely peaceful transition of Eastern Europe out of communism.
Vaclav Havel is a patriot of the highest order. A great man who deserves an elevated place in history.
RIP..
We may need to look to men such as this, here in the United States, in the near future.
Good luck searching for one...
Wish we had one like Havel here in the US.
Wish we had one like Havel here in the US.
Wish we had one like Havel here in the US.
Wish we had one like Havel here in the US.
Wish we had one like Havel here in the US.
RIP to an artist, a patriot, and a hero.
You can say that again.
We and their countries are indebted to their courage and endurance in their steadfast faith in the alternative to communist doctrine. We remember them in their glory when they triumphed but it is well for us to consider what they did in the decades of obscurity laboring against their police-state tyrants. That was courage indeed and we must honor it forever!
“Truth and love must prevail over lies and hate.” Vaclav Havel
Well, rats.
First an artist then a leader. Thankful that his country had him at the critical moment.
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