Who is he? Born in Prague, 5th October 1936, to a politically minded family, Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, writer and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He has written over twenty plays and many non- fiction works which have been translated internationally. He has received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, and the Ambassador of Conscience Award.

The good old days… The background and interests of his family, compelled Václav Havel to pursue the humanitarian values of Czech culture. After military service, he worked as a stagehand in Prague and studied drama by correspondence at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. His first publicly performed full-length play, was The Garden Party (1963). This was soon followed by The Memorandum, one of his best known plays, and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration. In 1968, The Memorandum was also brought to The Public Theatre in New York, which helped establish his reputation in the United States. After 1968 his plays were banned in his own country and Havel was unable to leave Czechoslovakia to see any foreign performances.

Dissident – becoming a political rebel! Following 1968, Havel was banned from the theatre and became more politically active. He was forced to take a job in a brewery, which he wrote about in his play Audience. This play, along with two other "Vaněk" plays y added to Havel's reputation of being a leading revolutionary. His reputation was strengthened by the publication of the Charter 77 manifesto, which he wrote in response to the imprisonment of members of a Czech psychedelic band. He also co-founded the organisation, the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted in He was also famous for his essays, most famously for Post- Totalitarianism and became a leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the end to communism in Czechoslovakia.

Recently… Havel's first new play in over 18 years, Leaving, was published in November Havel based the play on King Lear. and on The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov.