Menu Search VHL web CS
Václav Havel
Zpět na začátek

Club / News / Program

Illustration

Change in Library leadership  23/10/24

Today, Wednesday 23 October 2024, Milan Babík decided to resign from the post of director of the Václav Havel Library for personal reasons. The Board of Trustees have accepted his explanation with understanding: “Milan Babík has done a great deal of work. Since June, when he took over, he has succeeded in enriching the Library’s activities, including the launch of projects that should culminate in 2026 in connection with the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth,” said the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Gabriel Eichler. Until a successor to Milan Babík is chosen, the Board of Trustees, as the statutory body, will assume some of his responsibilities, working closely with the Václav Havel Library team.

Illustration

Truth and love never rust  03/10/24

On the occasion of its 20th birthday, the Václav Havel Library is launching a new fundraising campaign. It aims to commemorate an important milestone in the VHL’s existence and to address new donors. The author of the communication concept TRUTH AND LOVE NEVER RUST is idea maker Martin Halaxa, while art director Jan Lesák is behind the graphic design. The campaign primarily draws on materials from the Library’s archive, which currently holds over 80,000 items. It is based on relatively little-known video footage of Václav Havel in various situations in his life, as well as images by photographers closely associated with him: Tomki Němec, Oldřich Škácha and Přemysl Fialka. The actor David Prachař has given his voice to the campaign, with musical accompaniment coming from the famous underground band Psí vojáci. More

Illustration

Why Should We Care?  02/10/24

The conference in honour of the laureate of the Václav Havel Prize for 2024, provocatively entitled "What's it to us?", starts at two o'clock! The programme can be found HERE. We look forward to seeing you there! 

Where and when?

Illustration

The laureate of this year's Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is María Corina Machado  01/10/24

María Corina Machado is a leading political figure in Venezuela engaged in denouncing human rights abuses in her country and defending democracy and the rule of law. She is the co-founder of the Venezuelan volunteer civil organisation ‘Súmate’ for civil and political freedom, rights and citizen participation.

Where and when?

Program for February 2025<>

entry-free

Evening with Photographer Tomki Němec

Evening with Photographer Tomki Němec

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 5, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Projection of photographs from the book Václav Havel – Tomki Němec, Fotografie (Václav Havel – Tomki Němec, Photographs) accompanied by commentary from the author; this will relate to the intense 1990s period, which Němec was involved in thanks to his role as President Havel’s personal photographer. Jáchym Topol, who was the photographer’s colleague on reporting trips, will host the evening.
 

In Conversation With… Czech to English translators

In Conversation With… Czech to English translators

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 6, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

What is the present climate like when it comes to getting Czech literature translated into English, and what have been some recent success stories in this area? And more generally, with AI translation constantly increasing in quality, what does the future hold for those who make a living translating from Czech to English? These questions and many more will be discussed by Melvyn Clarke, founder of the Czechlist online translators group, translator Melissa Dedina and Gerald Turner, veteran translator of such writers as Ivan Klíma and Ludvík Vaculík. In Conversation With… is a series of occasional talks in English at the Václav Havel Library hosted by journalist Ian Willoughby of Radio Prague International.

Returned Children of Ukraine: Film Screening and a Discussion

Returned Children of Ukraine: Film Screening and a Discussion

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 12, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

It’s estimated that at least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been forcefully deported or unlawfully relocated to Russia-controlled territories since the start of the full-scale invasion three years ago. To this day, only 388 children have been rescued.* Join us as we will be showing the film ‘Hearing Them Out: Returned Children of Ukraine’, directed by Tetiana Khodakivska and supported by the Prague Civil Society Centre. The short film documented the stories of 72 rescued children and revealed in their own words the horrors they endured. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director and human rights experts.

Guests

Tetiana Khodakivska
Ukrainian filmmaker, director of “Hearing Them Out: Returned Children of Ukraine”

Kateryna Rashevska
Legal Expert at Ukraine’s Regional Center for Human Rights documenting war crimes against children

Alina Chubko
Senior Programme Officer for the Ukrainian portfolio at the Prague Civil Society Centre

The discussion will be held in English without translation.

according to https://childrenofwar.gov.ua

The Free Academy: Osamu Okamura – A City for Everyone

The Free Academy: Osamu Okamura – A City for Everyone

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 13, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

If we consider our beautiful cities which have developed through history, is it even possible to talk about any problems? The fundamental problems of the contemporary city from the perspective of urban planning and urbanism are many: mono-functional urban zones, brownfield sites, suburbanisation, industrial parks, sparsely populated and shrinking cities, traffic collapse, deteriorating environmental quality, neglect of public space, gentrification and lack of affordable housing, privatisation of the city, unoccupied buildings, aging housing stock and real estate speculation, insufficient new construction, lack of political mandate and lack of participation. This opening provocation aims to inspire the audience to search for alternative – and even better – solutions.

Osamu Okamura is an architect focused on urban livability and its interpretation. He has held a number of positions, including visiting professor at Tokyo University of Science and dean of the Faculty of Art and Architecture at the Technical University of Liberec. His book Město pro každého: Manuál urbanisty začátečníka,(A City for Everyone: A Beginner's Guide to Urban Planning), illustrated by David Böhm and Jiří Franta, has won numerous awards. As an exceptional contributor to the spread of innovations of global importance from Eastern Europe Okamura was named one of the "New Europe 100 Outstanding Challengers from Central and Eastern Europe" in 2014.

Debate with Respekt

Debate with Respekt

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 18, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more information visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

International Conference: Ukraine as a Subject of European History

International Conference: Ukraine as a Subject of European History

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 19, 2025, 12:00 – 17:00

The conference’s debates will be devoted to topics such as the future and prospects of the restoration of Ukraine, Ukraine’s cultural and political links with Europe and the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. Guests: Martin Dvořák, Minister for European Affairs, Tomáš Kopečný, Government Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, historian and member of the Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Viatrovych, historian Oleksandr Zinchenko and others. For more information visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the conference.

Circus ÚSTR: The Culture of Memory, Patriotism and a Resilient Society

Circus ÚSTR: The Culture of Memory, Patriotism and a Resilient Society

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 20, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

What is the culture of memory? How do the political and intellectual elite (and Czech society) deal with historical memory? In what direction is the staging of Czech remembrance headed? Can we create living places of memory? Are they a source of healthy and self-confident patriotism? What can fiction, cinematography and documentary film contribute to the culture of memory? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Czech reflection on 20th-century history and experiences with totalitarian regimes? What contributes to the resilience of civil society in the face of the misinterpretation of history by opponents of freedom and democracy? Where in Europe can we look for inspiration and lessons? Guests: writer and journalist Tereza Boučková, screenwriter and director Václav Marhoul, and director and documentary filmmaker Pavel Štingl. Chaired by historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček, director of the Department of Research and Education at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

The event is part of a series of debates named Circus ÚSTR, with the title referencing the Czech acronym for the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

Ukraine Beyond the West

Ukraine Beyond the West

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 25, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Many countries do not take Western anti-Russian positions since the invasion of Ukraine as a given: only a minority of states have actually accepted and are adhering to sanctions or have curtailed diplomatic relations. This “rest of the world” (made up of the majority of its population, including countries with over a billion people, such as China and India) usually pursues its own interests, or in fact directly supports the Russian narrative, which corresponds to colonial and post-colonial (or Cold War) experience or simply anti-Western sentiment. Or is this a purely pragmatic approach based on economic ties? Does local political culture, the character of the system, or the personalism of local elites play a role in this? How does ideology correspond to practical foreign policy steps, and where to look for the reasons for any discrepancies between these two levels? The collective monograph Ukrajina mimo Západ (Ukraine Beyond the West) mainly traces the causes of this state of affairs in countries with a neutral, pragmatic or plain pro-Russian stance.

The book will be introduced by editor Slavomír Horák and the authors of selected chapters, who will reflect on the latest developments in the attitudes of some non-Western countries or regions in this area.

Mene Tekel: Prison Poetry from Karel Pecka to Ivan M. Jirous

Mene Tekel: Prison Poetry from Karel Pecka to Ivan M. Jirous

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 26, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

The evening will look at the phenomenon of prison poetry from communist labour camps and prisons between 1948 and 1989. The creators of the programme, literary historians Barbora Čiháková and Petra Loučová, will focus on various forms of this specific genre. They will also present the fates of selected authors, including both established and emerging poets, as well as political prisoners who are today unknown.

The event is being held as part of the 18th annual international festival against totalitarianism Mene Tekel in cooperation with the Institute for Czech Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the association Političtí vězni.cz.

The Russian Soul Doesn’t Exist: Book Launch

The Russian Soul Doesn’t Exist: Book Launch

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: February 27, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

What is happening behind the facade of agency news in Russia? What development has society there undergone since the collapse of the USSR? Where to look for the historical roots of the current situation and the war against Ukraine? Tomáš Glanc, a Slavic scholar working at the University of Zurich, seeks answers to these and other questions in Ruská duše neexistuje (The Russian Soul Doesn’t Exist) a book-length interview conducted by Jan Bělíček, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Alarm. The publication will be “baptised” by journalist Petra Procházková.

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.

Zpět na začátek

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.

Zpět na začátek

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.

Illustration

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.

Illustration

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.

Zpět na začátek

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.
Zpět na začátek

Educational projects

Zpět na začátek

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.

  • 75267 records in total
  • 32036 of events in the VH's life
  • 2831 of VH's texts
  • 2125 of photos 
  • 406of videos
  • 569of audios
  • 6583of letters
  • 15100of texts about VH
  • 8575 of books
  • 43112of 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.

Illustration

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.”  

Zpět na začátek

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
Zpět na začátek

Support us

We are well aware that freedom and democracy must be nurtured. Here at Ostrovní 13, but also on the audiovisual platform Havel Channel, we strive to do so through our own educational programmes, talks, discussion meetings, books, exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances. We honour Václav Havel's legacy and wish that the Library be a living organism and open to all. That is why our programme is free of charge for everyone. This would not be possible without regular financial support from our supporters. Become one of them...
Václav Havel

Support us with a financial donation

Does our work make sense to you and do you want to support the activities of the Vaclav Havel Library?

You can easily make a one-time payment by scanning the QR code.

Would you like to contribute regularly? Then we invite you to become a member of the Vaclav Havel Library Friends Club. What are the benefits of membership? Find out more.

I want to support: Darujme.cz Friends club

Help us expand the archive

The Vaclav Havel Library manages an archive of writings, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Vaclav Havel. This archive is predominantly in digital form. If you or someone close to you owns any original texts, correspondence, photographs, speeches or any other work by Vaclav Havel, we would be grateful if you could contact us.

ArchiveContact

You can donate in other ways too

Supporting a specific charitable or public benefit organization whose activities you appreciate or have been supporting for a long time is also possible through a will. This form of donation is quite common abroad, but in the Czech Republic this tradition is only just taking root.

Share information about us

The Vaclav Havel Library is open to media and promotional cooperation, mutual sharing of links, publishing our banners or information about our events.

For more information, please contact us.

Contact for PR & media

Donations have their rules

At the Vaclav Havel Library, we uphold a transparent, responsible and ethical way of dealing with all those who contribute to fulfilling our purpose and implementing our strategy. Our code of ethics summarizes the basic rules of donations.

Code of conduct

Get involved in volunteering

Would you like to get involved as a volunteer? That's great. We welcome anyone who wants to help our work.

Contact for volunteers

Bakala FoundationRockefeller Brothers FundČeská centraTrade Centre PrahaJan BartaAsiana GroupMoneta Money BankThe Vaclav Havel Library FoundationNadace Charty 77Sekyra FoudationVŠEMRádio 1RicohP3chemTechsoup ČRNewton MediaHlavní město PrahaMinisterstvo kultury ČRMinisterstvo zahraničních věcí ČRUS EmbassyStátní fond kulturyČtení pomáhá