Authors nominated in various categories of the annual Magnesia Litera literary awards will read from their books. Pavel Mandys will moderate the evening.

Jan Slavík (1885–1978), an idiosyncratic historian who was one of the outstanding figures in Czech historiography of the interwar period, was defined by his critical attitude toward the political situation, a stance that brought hardships. The 140th anniversary of Slavík’s birth also offers a reminder of the tangled paths of both Czech historiography and his work; like him, it was blacklisted during the former regime (even though it could not be published for being “Bolshevik” during the German occupation). Debate participants: Jaroslav Bouček, Martin Kučera, Jakub Rákosník, David Svoboda. Historian Michal Macháček will moderate.

The liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp on 10 April 1945 ended the suffering of thousands of prisoners, including hundreds of children, who were saved by Czech political prisoner Antonín Kalina. What fate awaited the survivors? How did courage, solidarity and hope manifest themselves in such inhuman conditions? These questions will be discussed by Israeli writer Limor Regev, author of a forthcoming book about Antonín Kalina, and Michal Šmíd, administrator of the Memory of Nations portal and editor of the Memory of Nations magazine. The evening will be moderated by Martin Groman, journalist and co-host of the podcast Přepište dějiny.

While housing affordability is a recurring theme in election campaigns, concrete measures are successfully kept on the back burner by governments. Why do voters accept this recurring cycle of promises and inaction? And who pays the most? Prokop Vodrážka, an editor at Deník N, will discuss these questions with his guests. 

Authors nominated in various categories of the annual Magnesia Litera literary awards will read from their books. Pavel Mandys will moderate the evening.

Salome Zourabichvili, a Georgian politician and the first female president of her country, is set to visit the Czech Republic at the invitation of the Václav Havel Library and of Pavel Fischer, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Senate of the Czech Parliament. Following parliamentary elections in Georgia in October 2024, the pro-Western president said the result had been manipulated by Russia, pledging to remain in office until new elections were held. However, MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has a majority in parliament after October’s elections, installed Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president. The director of the Václav Havel Library, Tomáš Sedláček, will conduct an interview with Salome Zourabichvili on recent developments in the country, the backsliding of democracy and Georgia’s geopolitical importance at the Václav Havel Library at 2:30 pm on Wednesday 9 April 2025.

Jiří Suk, a historian and political scientist, has brought out a new volume of Velké dějiny zemí Koruny české (The Great History of the Czech Crown Lands), in which he maps the years 1956–1967; this has been described as a “period of thaw” and saw gradual destalinization in the Soviet Union and its satellites. The book’s political, economic and cultural history is accompanied by explorations of everyday life under socialism, from assessments of living standards to housing, work, and health to the intimate zone of the family and religious belief. The author of the book Kriegel: Voják a lékař komunismu (Kriegel: Soldier and Doctor of Communism), journalist Martin Groman, will discuss the book, and how the new edition of The Great History came about, with Suk.

This musical and poetic evening featuring poetry by six prominent contemporary Slovak poets, as performed by the Agadir Music and Poetry Theatre, will present a wide range of expression, from natural impressionism to relationship poetry to reflective and existential verse. Poets Rudolf Jurolek, Juraj Kuniak, Peter Mišák, Erik Ondrejička, Milan Richter and Ján Zambor will take part, while Václav Buchta will serve as moderator.

What is the future of our strategic partnership with the United States? Is the Western alliance collapsing? What is the relationship between the spirit of Europe and the spirit of Donald Trump’s present-day US? Fundamental issues surrounding the future of the democratic world will be discussed by Petr Kolář, former Czech ambassador to the United States and Russia; Kateřina Březinová, American studies scholar, historian and head of the Ibero-American Centre at the Department of International Relations and European Studies at Prague’s Metropolitan University, Václav Dejčmar, economist, philanthropist, and investor in projects of the RSJ company, co-owner of the Dox Prague contemporary art center, and occasional producer. Václav Havel Library director Tomáš Sedláček will moderate the discussion.

A discussion on a topical issue featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For details please visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event. 

Authors nominated in various categories of the annual Magnesia Litera literary awards will read from their books. Pavel Mandys will moderate the evening.

A lecture focused on Bořek Šípek (1949–2016), one of the leading European designers of the postmodern era, who became Prague Castle architect in the era of Václav Havel. However, in addition to his interventions at the seat of the Czech president he also designed a number of interiors and buildings in various countries. Zdeněk Lukeš, an architectural historian, will reminisce about postmodernism in architecture and design, as well as his own collaboration with Šípek at Prague Castle and at university, and works by Šípek that remain largely unknown in Czechia.

Marcus Mucha is the great-grandson of the Czech art nouveau giant Alphonse Mucha and serves as executive director of the Mucha Foundation, which recently reopened its Mucha Museum at the renovated Prague centre Savarin Palace. Marcus, a Cambridge graduate, previously enjoyed a successful career in Hollywood, where he worked closely with Morgan Freeman. In Conversation With… is a series of occasional talks at the Václav Havel Library hosted by Ian Willoughby, a journalist with Radio Prague International.

The immune system is crucial for our survival: It protects us from infections, promotes healing and actively fights cancer cells. Just as the heart gives us a warning in the form of high blood pressure or an accelerated heart rate, our immune system also sends signals when something is wrong. Unfortunately, we often ignore them. Chronic stress has a devastating impact on immunity, contributing to immunodeficiency, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Yet we do not avoid it in modern society and the sense of being irreplaceable can cost us our health and life.

Let us invite you to a festival of small publishing houses at Žižkárna, an arts and creative hub in the former Žižka Barracks in České Budějovice, where you will also find a VH Library book stand.

Presentation of book-length interview