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Three candidates shortlisted for the 2023 Václav Havel Prize  05/09/23

The selection panel of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond, has today announced the shortlist for the 2023 Award. Meeting in Prague today, the panel – made up of independent figures from the world of human rights and chaired by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tiny Kox – decided to shortlist the following three nominees, in alphabetical order: More

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Three candidates shortlisted for the 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize  06/09/22

The discussion among the seven-member jury helmed by the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe centred on the importance of the issue of human rights during this tense period. The finalists include Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political prisoner and leading Russian democracy campaigner; Ukraine’s 5 AM Coalition, which gathers evidence of human rights abuses stemming from Russia’s invasion of the country; and Hungary’s Rainbow Coalition defending LGBTQIA+ rights. “This year’s selection reflects the central role that human rights play in the current European crisis,” says Michael Žantovský, jury member and executive director of the Václav Havel Library, which bestows the prize in cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Nadace Charty 77.

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The Other Europe  27/04/22

Dear Friends, After three years we have completed the international project The Other Europe, during which, in cooperation with partner institutions, we have processed and made public recordings of interviews shot in 1987 and 1988 behind the Iron Curtain, and in exile, with important representatives of the opposition and the arts, as well as random citizens. Over those three years we have prepared video, audio and text of 106 interviews in speakers’ native languages and English translation. Despite public health restrictions in the Covid period, we have jointly prepared 16 international conferences and public presentations in six Central and Eastern European states. More

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From Schuman to Havel – what next?  16/02/22

The Václav Havel Library is a proud partner of the project Beyond Robert Schuman’s Europe More

Program for November 2021<>

entry-free

Between Literature and Academia

Between Literature and Academia

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 1, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

Arnošt (Vilém) Kraus (1859–1943) and Otokar Fischer (1883–1938) were not just significant figures in Czech cultural life, to which they contributed as translators, critics, cultural intermediaries and literary and arts journalists; they also helped shape – each in his own specific manner – the profile of Czech literary-academic German Studies from the 1880s to the start of WWI. At the same time, their own life stories reflected the complicated Czech-
German-Jewish relations of the 19 th and 20 th centuries.

The collections of academic studies in the series Intellektuelles Prag im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, which are put out by the Böhlau publishing house, represent the first comprehensive exploration of their activities in the broader cultural and historical context. The idea behind the two volumes, their findings and the (possible) updating of the two personalities’ legacy for the present day will be discussed by Petr Brod and their editors Helena Březinová (Scandinavian Studies expert, Faculty of Arts, Charles University), Steffen Höhn (cultural historian and German Studies expert, Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar), Václav Petrbok (German and Bohemian Studies expert, Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Arts, Charles University) Alice Stašková (German Studies and Romance Languages expert, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena) and Štěpán Zbytovský (German Studies expert, Faculty of Arts, Charles University).

Michal Plzák and Lucie Vopálenská: Ready to Go

Michal Plzák and Lucie Vopálenská: Ready to Go

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 3, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

Lively interviews about final acts.

How to speak about death? Twenty-six personalities welcomed the authors of Pro smrt uděláno (Ready to Go), trusting them to explore this difficult topic together. They learned to be sensitive, but also relentless: We invite you to lose your fear with us; perhaps not of death, but of speaking about it.

The book is neither an academic treatise nor a mere useful instruction manual, even though it also contains those aspects. The interviews show the diverse forms that awareness of death and fear of it take on, as does speaking about this intimate and demanding subject. It is generally assumed that this is a taboo, repressed subject, though this is contradicted somewhat by the interviews. Finding a way of addressing this theme in a “human” and open way may prove more difficult. One of the book’s aims is to foster greater openness in issues surrounding human finitude, solitude, suffering, dignity and coming to terms with the unknown.

Interviewees include scientist and philosopher Ivan Havel, the cofounder of the Cesta domů hospice Martina Špinková, psychiatrist Radkin Honzák, politician and prince Karel Schwarzenberg, provincial chief rabbi and novelist Karol Sidon, Roman Catholic bishop Václav Malý, Evangelical pastor Miloš Rejchrt, grave-digger David Stejskal, the director of the City of Prague Funerals Institute, founder of the Alzheimer’s Society Iva Holmerová, poets J. H. Krchovský and Petr Hruška, special operations unit commander and Afghanistan veteran Lumír Němec and the English philosopher Peter Wilberg, who speaks about his own demise. The book will be introduced by Michal Plzák and Lucie Vopálenská alongside philosopher Miroslav Petříček and painter Věra Nováková Brázdová.

Jáchym Topol will host the evening.

Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Kalich publishing house.

Why Cities (Don’t) Earn Through Art?

Why Cities (Don’t) Earn Through Art?

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 4, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

How to develop cooperation between the arts scene and schools in the context of major and regional cities? How can cities and regions implement a long-term system of support for creative learning? How to use the potential of the cultural and art scene to bring innovation to teaching at primary, secondary and arts-focused schools? How to bring together the interests of cities, school founders, schools themselves and arts organisations? What does cooperation require of the parties involved?

Tomáš Feřtek will chair the discussion.

Organisers: uMĚNÍM, Nerudný fest and the Václav Havel Library.

European Intellectual – A Portrait of František Skorina

European Intellectual – A Portrait of František Skorina

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 5, 2021, 18:00 – 19:00

Doctor František Skorina (1470–1552), a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a historical figure in whom today’s Belarus takes pride, was a European intellectual who published his most important work in Prague. His Ruthenian Bible (1517–1520) is a key work in the history of Slavonic literature, and by no means only for Belarus, representing a milestone in the development of Czech printing and Czech portraiture. Indeed, his portrait in the Ruthenian Bible is the subject of the international study by the Prague Linguistic Circle that is being presented.

The group will be represented by Tomáš Hoskovec, Ilja Lemeškin and Tomáš Glanc, while Alena Kovářová will be there on behalf of Skaryna.

Belarus on the Road to Freedom

Belarus on the Road to Freedom

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 8, 2021, 18:00 – 19:00

Presidential elections held in Belarus in summer 2020 saw Alexander Lukashenko win for the sixth time. The country’s opposition and most democratic states cast doubt on the official result and thousands took to the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities. The book Bělorusko na cestě ke svobodě (Belarus on the Road to Freedom) delivers interviews with representatives of several generations critical of the country’s regime, many of whom have experienced repression and imprisonment. The book launch will also focus on the current situation in Belarus.

Alongside authors Tereza Šupová and Adéla Dražanová the journalists Petra Procházková and Libor Dvořák will speak.

Ondřej Soukup will chair the discussion.

Jan Němec, Petr Vizina: Signs of the Unknown

Jan Němec, Petr Vizina: Signs of the Unknown

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 9, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

We search for what cannot be found and, in happy moments, find what cannot be searched for. It would be easy to speak of spirituality, or even of mystical experiences, but the main focus is on stories of inner transformation. In Znamení neznámého (Signs of the Unknown) musician Shina, cleric Petr Vacík, painter Jan Pražan, translator Markéta Crowe, poet Adam Borzič, environmentalist Jiří Zemánek, philosopher Alice Koubová, Zen monastery abbot Jiří Hazlbauer and nun Denisa Červená discuss that about which there first must long be silence – which may be trauma and mastery, or the truth before words and behind them. How is it when somebody tries to find themselves and finds far more? Nine interviews about interior life, nine stories of that which we have forgotten and nine witnesses to the signs of the unknown amongst us.

Authors Jan Němec and Petr Vizina will be joined by Denisa Červenková and Alice Koubová.

Young People Make Civil Society, II

Young People Make Civil Society, II

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 10, 2021, 16:00 – 17:00

How to get young people involved in civil society? What do they think about non-profits, volunteering and charity, and how do they make that known? Do the ideas that Olga Havlova and Václav Havel identified with – truth and love, compassion and humility – have the same significance to them?

The debate is taking place as part of the second annual Give Heart, a project for secondary school students aimed at getting youth involved in helping the needy. Confirmed guests include the appeal’s patron and moderator Kateřina Pechová, the director of the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation Monika Granja and representatives of the Czech Secondary School Union and Fridays for Future.

Kateřina Pechová will chair the talk.

Transdisciplinary Conference in Honour of IMH

Transdisciplinary Conference in Honour of IMH

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 11, 2021, 09:00 – 16:00

When Ivan M. Havel died this year those of us who knew him and collaborated with him in some way were fully aware of what an extraordinary personality we had lost. “What he enjoyed most, I think, was to sit and listen as respected academics argued. And how out of that dispute an important theme would arise, an idea would be born,” wrote David Storch, who succeeded him as director of the Centre for Theoretical Study after many years, in a tribute. In order to honour the memory of Ivan M. Havel and to remember his unique role, we decided to hold the kind of academic conference that he would no doubt have attended –meaning an informal debate on issues he held dear in a location where he would have likely enjoyed sitting and with people from various fields with whom he liked to converse.

He was fascinated by potential links between various scientific fields, which among other things sparked repeated radical scientific self-reflection. The conference will take in four fields that Ivan M. Havel was long focused on, or to which he recently made a significant contribution:

I Consciousness, natural and artificial intelligence

Jan Romportl, moderátor (9.20–9.30)
Jiří Horáček (9.30–9.40)
Radek Schuster (9.40–9.50)

II At the interface of language, science and art

Cyril Říha, moderátor (10.50–11.00)
Michal Ajvaz (11.00–11.10)
Radka Denemarková (11.10–11.20)
Monika Mitášová (11.20–11.30)

III Anthropocene

Petr Pokorný, Radan Haluzík, Eliška Fulínová, chaired by Anna Kvíčalová

IV Meeting at a point of transition

Kateřina Trlifajová, Roman Kotecký, Martin Palouš, chaired by Jan Palouš

Closing: Petr Pokorný and Ivan Chvatík

In these blocks short opening remarks will give way to a moderated debate among the invited speakers, later involving also the public.

Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Centre for Theoretical Study.

5 and a Half Screenplays by Ester Krumbachová

5 and a Half Screenplays by Ester Krumbachová

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 15, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

Director Jana Chytilová used to call her “Ester the witch”, while for fellow director Jan Němec she was “a muse, the éminence grise of the1960s”. Set designer, artist, film wardrobe designer, director, screenwriter and writer Ester Krumbachová was certainly no shrinking violet.

The publication 5 a půl scénáře Ester Krumbachové (5 and a Half Screenplays by Ester Krumbachová), which is just coming out on the Nakladatelství AMU imprint, presents a less well-known side of the artist as the author or co-author of the screenplays of key works of Czechoslovak cinema. It contains previously unpublished screenplays that she wrote with Chytilová and Němec and by herself. Accompanying materials include Krumbachová’s complete filmography and bibliography by M. Fikejz, the recollections of her nephew J. Krumbach and a selection from interviews conducted with her by Tereza Brdečková. Her work for film and television is explored in comprehensive fashion in an essay by editors Jan Bernard and K. Vaňková; it is based on a study of her estate, archived and digitized by the company are-events.org, and of the archives of Barrandov Studio and Czech Television.

The evening also includes a reading from the screenplay Daisies II put together by Jan Bernard and performer Bára Purmová (Naivní divadlo Liberec) and Daniela Grohová (Jičín), who are graduates of DAMU.

Echo from the Library

Echo from the Library

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 16, 2021, 19:30 – 20:30

Series of debates with editors from the weekly Echo 24 and their guests. You will find the topic and names of guests prior to the discussion at www.vaclavhavel.cz

Václav Havel’s Living Room

Václav Havel’s Living Room

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 17, 2021, 13:00 – 17:30

This year’s edition will be given over to debates between parents and their children born after 1989, as we explore shared households and, as every year, create a living room milieu. This inter-generational dialogue on both perceptions of freedom and the difficulties of the present and past will be split into four blocks.

Organised by the Václav Havel Library and the non-profit organisation Díky, že můžem v rámci as part of the event Korzo Národní (Národní Promenade).

Havel to the Cafe!

Havel to the Cafe!

  • Where: Prague 1
  • When: November 17, 2021, 13:00 – 15:30

Join us for a joyous, celebratory procession to commemorate the legacy of Vaclav Havel and the 33rd anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. 

A special ‘procession’ will depart at 1pm from the T. G. Masaryk statue at the Hradcanske Square (in front of the Prague Castle), arriving eventually at the Cafe Slavia. 

The procession will carry a bronze bust of Vaclav Havel - the first for Prague - by sculptor Maria Seborova to be put on permanent display at Cafe Slavia. 

The procession will stop at a number of key sites relevant to Vaclav Havel – such as the Vaclav Havel Memorial Bench at Maltezske Square (1:40 pm) and the Theatre on the Balustrade (2:15 pm) where readings of his work in Czech and English will take place. 

Please spread the word and join us in honoring the late President!

Theatre Night 2021: 3x Young Václav Havel

Theatre Night 2021: 3x Young Václav Havel

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 20, 2021, 19:00 – 21:00

The flair of young theatre people, the energy of the early golden 1960s and the wit, ideas and sharp outlook of an emerging author = Fresh Air at the Václav Havel Library

19.00

Václav Havel: Ela, Hela and the Hitch
An absurd comedy about wishing to experience hitchhiking for oneself

Characters and cast: Ela – Renata Řezaninová Pejchlová, Hela – Petra Belková, driver – Patrik Chmel
Director: Jaroslava Trojanová
Prompters: Jitka Jandová, Jarmila Vlčková
Music: Dominik Sosnovec

19.45

Václav Havel: A Family Evening
Divadlo Našlose, Sedlčany
A one-act family tragedy
Characters and cast: Stage technicians – Patrik Chmel, Filip Špale, Grandmother – Jana Durďáková, Pokorná – Zuzana Trojanová, Pokorný – Petr Svoboda, Alena – Eva Kloudová, Ivan – Jan Zdeněk

The Divadlo Našlose production has been supported by the Patronát Sedlčansko Foundation.

Last Blacksmith – First Minister

Last Blacksmith – First Minister

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 22, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

Presentation of Poslední kovák – první ministr (Last Blacksmith – First Minister), a book of interviews that historian Jakub Šlouf conducted with November 1989 industrial workers’ leader and later first post-Communist federal minister of labour and social affairs, Petr Miller. The authors ponder changes in the status of the industrial working class in the late-socialist period, the way in which the factories influenced the Velvet Revolution and the social and economic consequences of a transformation that paradoxically led to the demise of numerous enterprises and manual professions. Petr Miller’s gripping life story and openness serve as an unusually inspiring stepping off point for such reflections.

Alongside the book’s writers the panel discussion will also feature another invited member of the then government of national understanding and the historian Jiří Suk.

Moderated by historian Vítězslav Sommer of the Institute of Contemporary History at the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Akropolis publishing house.

Erasmus, Spinoza, Cleveringa, Havel, and the Praise of Folly

Erasmus, Spinoza, Cleveringa, Havel, and the Praise of Folly

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 24, 2021, 19:00 – 20:30

On the twenty-sixth of November 1940, six months after the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, several professors at Leiden University, led by Rudolph Cleveringa, professor of law, spoke out against the expulsion of their Jewish colleagues. Lambertus Jacobus Van Holk, professor of theology, also gave a protest lecture on the Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Cleveringa was arrested and spent the rest of the occupation in prison. In honour of these courageous gestures, the Cleveringa Lecture is held annually in Holland and many other countries on themes related to the rule of law, freedom and responsibility.

On November 13, 1986, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix and other leading figures of Dutch public life, the actor Jan Tříska read a speech of thanks by Václav Havel in the Rotterdam Cathedral on the occasion of the award of the Erasmus of Rotterdam Prize to the Czech playwright and human rights activist for his fidelity to his own conscience and his courageous stand against the suppression of freedom. Václav Havel did not attend the ceremony for fear that the communist regime would prevent him from returning to his homeland. In his lecture, he claimed the legacy of the great Dutch humanist and his "praise of folly" in defiance of social dictates.

In honour of these important speeches, underlining the shared values of freedom, responsibility and human rights in both countries, the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Czech Republic will hold a special evening on 24 November under the auspices of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Daan Huisinga. The speakers will include Professor Antoaneta Dimitrova from Leiden University, and the Director of the Václav Havel Library Michael Žantovský.

 
Barack Obama: A Promised Land

Barack Obama: A Promised Land

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: November 25, 2021, 19:00 – 20:00

Presentation of Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land, which is now coming out in Czech. The book offers an insight into the private life of the first Afro-American history in US history and behind the curtain of American politics at the highest level.

The book and the context in which we are reading it today will be discussed by Daniel Anýž and translator Martin Svoboda.

Havel Channel

Havel Channel je audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla, jehož cílem je šířit myšlenkový, literární a politický odkaz Václava Havla, bez ohledu na vzdálenost, zeměpisné hranice či nouzové stavy. Jeho páteř tvoří debaty, vzdělávací projekty a rozhovory. Velký prostor je věnován též konferencím, autorským čtením, záznamům divadelních inscenací a koncertům. Audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla Havel Channel se uskutečňuje díky laskavé podpoře Karel Komárek Family Foundation.

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Publications / E-shop

The central focus of the Library’s publishing programme is the life and work of Václav Havel, his family and close collaborators and friends. For clarity, the programme is divided into six series: Václav Havel Library Notebooks, Václav Havel Library Editions, Student Line, Talks from Lány, Václav Havel Documents, Works of Pavel Juráček and Václav Havel Library Conferences. Titles that cannot be incorporated into any of the given series but which are nonetheless important for the Library’s publishing activities are issued independently, outside the series framework.

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Conferences & prizes

Illustration

Václav Havel European Dialogues

The Václav Havel European Dialogues is an international project that aims to initiate and stimulate a discussion about issues determining the direction of contemporary Europe while referring to the European spiritual legacy of Václav Havel. This idea takes its main inspiration from Václav Havel’s essay “Power of the Powerless”. More than other similarly focused projects, the Václav Havel European Dialogues aims to offer the “powerless” a platform to express themselves and in so doing to boost their position within Europe.

The Václav Havel European Dialogues is planned as a long-term project and involves cooperation with other organisations in various European cities. Individual meetings, which take the form of a conference, are targeted primarily at secondary and third-level students, as well as specialists and members of the public interested in European issues.

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Václav Havel Human Rights Prize

The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation to reward outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.

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Havel - Albright Transatlantic Dialogues

Since the first Václav Havel Transatlantic Dialogues at GLOBSEC and FORUM 2000 conferences last year, we have lost another stalwart advocate of the transatlantic bond and of the need to face threats to democracy and international order together on both sides of the Atlantic, the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In view of the close bond between Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright and, after Havel's death, between the Secretary and the Library, the Václav Havel Library, with the approval of Madeleine Albright's family, renamed and rebranded the program as The Havel-Albright Transatlantic Dialogues (HATD), after the two major figures with roots in Central Europe who have personified the bond. Together, Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright symbolize the transatlantic relationship and the fundamental values underpinning it perhaps better than any other two people in recent history. The upcoming Dialogues “The Indispensable Woman: The Legacy of Madeleine K. Albright”, at the FORUM 2000 conference on September 1, and at the “Havel and our Crisis” conference at Colby College, ME, on September 28, will thus become venues for a well-deserved tribute to the pair we all respected and admired.

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Václav Havel

Václav Havel
* 5. 10. 1936 Praha
† 18. 12. 2011 Hrádeček u Trutnova

1936
Foto
Václav Havel grew up
in a well-known, wealthy entrepreneurial
and intellectual family.
1951
Foto
Václav Havel completed primary schooling. Because
of his "bourgeois" background, options for
higher education were limited.
1951
Foto
Václav Havel worked as a chemical laboratory technician
while attending evening classes at a high school
from which he graduated in 1954.
1955
Foto
Václav Havel studied at the
Economics Faculty of the Czech
Technical University in Prague.
1960
Foto
Václav Havel began working at Prague's Theatre on
the Balustrade, first as a stagehand and later as
an assistant director and literary manager.
1963
Foto
Havel´s first play The Garden
Party was staged at Prague's
Theatre on the Balustrade.
1964
Foto
Václav Havel
married Olga
Splichalova.
1966
Foto
VH finished studies at at the
Theatre Faculty of the Academy of
Performing Arts in Prague .
1968
Foto
Václav Havel played an active role in
democratization and renewal of culture during the
era of reforms, known as Prague Spring.
1969
Foto
Havel's work were banned in Czechoslovakia. He
moved from Prague to the country, continued
his activities against the Communist regime.
1974
Foto
Václav Havel worked as a manual laborer
at a local brewery near Hrádeček in
the north of the Czech Republic.
1975
Foto
Václav Havel wrote an open
letter to President Gustav Husak,
criticizing the government.
1977
Foto
Václav Havel co-founded the Charter 77
human rights initiative and was one
of its first spokesmen.
1978
Foto
Václav Havel co-founded The
Committee for the Defense
of the Unjustly Prosecuted.
1979
Foto
Václav Havel was imprisoned several times
for his beliefs, his longest prison
term lasting from 1979 to 1983.
1989
Foto
Václav Havel emerged as one of the
leaders of the November opposition movement, also
known as the Velvet Revolution.
1990
Foto
Václav Havel is elected
President of Czechoslovakia on
December 29.
1993
Foto
Václav Havel is elected, after the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the first President
of the Czech Republic.
1996
Foto
On January
27, Olga
Havlova died.
1997
Foto
Václav Havel married Dagmar Veskrnova,
a popular and acclaimed Czech theatrical,
television and movie actress.
1999
Foto
Václav Havel enabled the entry of
the Czech Republic into the North
Atlantic Treat Organisation (NATO).
2003
Foto
Václav Havel left office after
his second term as Czech
president ended on 2 February 2003.
2004
Foto
Foundation of Václav
Havel Library in
Prague.
2004
Foto
The Czech Republic became the 35th
member State of the Council of
Europe on 30 June 1993.
2010
Foto
Václav Havel directed
a film adaptation of
his play Leaving.
2011
Foto
Václav Havel died at his
summer house Hrádeček in the
north of the Czech Republic.
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Educational projects

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Archive / Documentation centre / Research projects

Dokumentační centrum

The Václav Havel Library is gradually gathering, digitizing, and making accessible written materials, photographs, sound recordings and other materials linked to the person of Václav Havel.

  • 70200 records in total
  • 27196 of events in the VH's life
  • 2831 of VH's texts
  • 2125 of photos 
  • 403of videos
  • 568of audios
  • 6604of letters
  • 15101of texts about VH
  • 8255 of books
  • 40254of bibliography records

Access to the database of the VHL’s archives is free and possible after registering as a user. Accessing archival materials that exist in an unreadable form is only possible at the reading room of the Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, 110 00 Prague 1, every Tuesday (except state holidays) from 9:00 to 17:00, or by prior appointment.

We will be glad to answer your queries at archiv@vaclavhavel-library.org.

Illustration

Havel in a nutshell

The virtual exhibition Václav Havel in a Nutshell places the life story of Václav Havel in the broader cultural and historic context in four chronologically distinct chapters with rich visual accompaniment. The exhibition is supplemented by the interactive map Flying the World with Václav Havel, which captures in physical form Havel’s global “footprint”.

Illustration

Vladimir Hanzel's revolution

Collage of recollections, images and sound recordings from Vladimír Hanzel, President Václav Havel’s personal secretary, bringing the feverish atmosphere of the Velvet Revolution to life.

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Václav Havel Interviews

A database of all accessible interviews given to print media outlets by the dramatist, writer and political activist Václav Havel between the 1960s and 1989. The resulting collection documents the extraordinary life story of an individual, as well as capturing a specific picture of modern Czechoslovak history at a time when being a free-thinker was more likely to lead to jail than an official public post.

Illustration

Pavel Juráček Archive

The Pavel Juráček Archive arose in February 2014 when his son Marek Juráček handed over six banana boxes and a typewriter case from his father’s estate to the Václav Havel Library. Thousands of pages of manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, documents and personal and official correspondence are gradually being classified and digitalised. The result of this work should be not only to map the life and work of one of the key figures of the New Wave of Czechoslovak film in the 1960s, but also to make his literary works accessible in the book series The Works of Pavel Juráček.

The aim of the Václav Havel Library is to ensure that Pavel Juráček finds a place in the broader cultural consciousness and to notionally build on the deep friendship he shared with Václav Havel. Soon after Juráček’s death in 1989 Havel said of him: “Pavel was a friend of mine whom I liked very much. He was one of the most sensitive and gentle people I have known – that’s why I cannot write more about him.”  

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All about Library

The Václav Havel Library works to preserve the legacy of Václav Havel, literary, theatrical and also political, in particular his struggle for freedom, democracy and the defence of human rights. It supports research and education on the life, values and times of Václav Havel as well as the enduring significance of his ideas for both the present and future.

The Václav Havel Library also strives to develop civil society and active civic life, serving as a platform for discussion on issues related to the support and defence of liberty and democracy, both in the Czech Republic and internationally.

The main aims of the Václav Havel Library include

  • Organizing archival, archival-research, documentary, museum and library activities focused on the work of Vaclav Havel and documents or objects related to his activities, and carries out professional analysis of their influence on the life and self-reflection of society
  • Serving, in a suitable manner, such as through exhibitions, the purpose of education and popularisation functions, thus presenting to the public the historical significance of the fight for human rights and freedoms in the totalitarian period and the formation of civil society during the establishment of democracy
  • Organizing scientific research and publication activities in its areas of interest
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Staňte se členy Klubu přátel Knihovny Václava Havla

We believe that we are succeeding in fulfilling the vision of Václav Havel, who, when he founded the Library, declared that it only makes sense as a living organism that occupies an unmissable place in the whole of public and political life. We see this as a commitment and inspiration for the future. We would like to use the footage of our hundreds of events in our own internet TV channel, expand our publication programme, develop more e-learning series, start organising workshops for teachers... But all this will require considerable financial resources. That's why we decided to turn to our visitors and supporters for support.

Pomozte nám inspirovat své okolí i Vy!
Přijdete se k nám a staňte se členem Klubu přátel Knihovny VH!

 

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Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s organizací pravidelných akcí pro veřejnost.

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Váš příspěvek nám pomůže rozvíjet náš ediční plán a publikační činnost

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Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s vývojem vzdělávacích miniserií, audivizuálních projektů, přípravou mezinárodních konferencí...

Support us

Financial donations

If you would like to support the work of the Václav Havel Library or its specific activities or projects by means of a financial donation you can do so via the VHL’s PayPal account

Or by bank transfer to:

ČSOB a. s., Na Poříčí 24, 115 20 Praha 1

  • Crown account number 7077 7077 / 0300 CZK
  • Euro account number 7755 7755 / 0300 EUR
  • Dollar account number 7747 7747 / 0300 USD

If an individual makes a donation of over CZK 1,000, or if a company makes a donation of over CZK 2,000, in one calendar year we will create for you a donation contract confirming the amount of the donation involved; the donor can use this to reduce their tax base in compliance with the law on taxation. For more information, contact us.

Donors with US citizenship can support us through the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation New York.

Donations and loans to the VHL archive

The Václav Havel Library administers an archive of written materials, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Václav Havel. The archive is predominantly digital in form. If you or somebody close to you is the owner of original texts, photographs, speeches or other works produced by Václav Havel we would appreciate it greatly if you contacted us. We will oversee the digitalisation of these documents and place them in our digital archive. If you would like to keep possession of such documents or items, we will return them in perfect condition.  

If a copy or original is donated to the Václav Havel Library, the terms of donation and use will in all cases be agreed with the owner. The names of all donors or owners will be listed alongside the documentary materials in question.

Internships

We offer short and long-term internships at the Václav Havel Library to Czech and foreign students. Interns are particularly welcomed in the fields of library studies and archival science, arts management, journalism, Czech Studies and other areas of the humanities.

We welcome knowledge of English (German and French are also a plus), while knowledge of Czech is an advantage for foreign interns.

Internships range in duration from six weeks to one year, while it is possible to agree on individual duration depending on the requirements of schools. On completion of the internship, the participant receives a certificate with an appraisal. Internships take place on the basis of prior agreement with applicants and dates must be agreed around two months in advance. Václav Havel Library internships are unpaid and we do not cover transport or accommodation costs.

If you are interested in an internship at the Václav Havel Library, contact us at the email address:

Media and promotion cooperation with the VHL

The Václav Havel Library welcomes the mutual exchange of links and the publication of our banners and information about our events. For more information, contact us directly.

Volunteers

The Václav Havel Library welcomes volunteers who would like to assist in our work.  

Česká centraBakala FoundationRockefeller Brothers FundJan BartaAsiana GroupMoneta Money BankThe Vaclav Havel Library FoundationNadace Charty 77Sekyra FoudationVŠEMRicohP3chemTechsoup ČRNewton MediaHlavní město PrahaMinisterstvo kultury ČRMinisterstvo zahraničních věcí ČRUS EmbassyStátní fond kultury