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.