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 ...
RIP. A brave man who stood his ground against a crushing and murderous communist regime. If we only had leaders such as this today...
First an artist then a leader. Thankful that his country had him at the critical moment.
First an artist then a leader. Thankful that his country had him at the critical moment.
You'll need a time machine. We don't make men here anymore.
RIP
Someone like Mr. Havel would be welcome as a 2012 presidential candidate.
He doesn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize but someone who just talks a lot does? Wow!
Rest in peace to a passionate and brave man.
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