Prague, Oct 5 (CTK) – A number of events on the occasion of the 80th birth anniversary of the first Czech president, Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), are held all over the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Besides, people share photographs, quotations and memories of Havel on social networks.
The government observed a minute of silence in memory of Havel during its regular meeting today. Other politicians remembered him on social networks at least.
“We should not only remember Vaclav Havel, but also find the courage every day to defend the ideals he represented,” Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) tweeted.
Playwright and dissident Havel, born on October 5, 1936, was the last Czechoslovak and the first Czech president (1989-2003). After he left the post, he primarily focused on the promotion of human rights in the world. He died on December 18, 2011, aged 75 years.
Since the morning, people have laid flowers and lit candles on Havel’s grave at the Vinohrady cemetery in Prague. They were also making a big heart of chestnuts there, alluding to Havel’s favourite symbol of heart that he added to his signature.
Some of them were members of the Masaryk Democratic Movement, established in 1989 by Havel and Alexander Dubcek, one of the leaders of the 1968 Prague Spring reform movement, and others.
Representatives of the Presidential Office, accompanied by an honorary guard, brought flowers to Havel’s grave before on Wednesday.
An event in memory of Havel started at Prague Castle, the presidential seat, at noon. The Castle Guard soldiers paid honour to Havel and a fanfare written by musician and Havel’s friend Michael Kocab was played.
President Milos Zeman did not attend the event it since he is visiting the Zlin Region, south Moravia.
A rally in memory of Havel will be staged on Wenceslas Square tonight. Apart from music, sentences from Havel’s speeches will be read and publicly known personalities will speak about him.
A concert to pay tribute to Havel starts in the Dvorak Hall of Rudolfinum in Prague at 19:30, with Sobotka attending. It will be broadcast live by public Czech Television (CT).
The Prague Crossroads international theatre festival in memory of Havel, held by the National Theatre, opened on Tuesday when a little square (piazzetta) of the theatre was named after him.
The seven-volume complete works by Havel, published by the Torst publisher’s in 1999, have been completely sold out. This is why businessman Ivan Kapicak decided to fund the publishing of their new issue next year, he has told CTK.
Havel’s complete works are available in electronic form in the Vaclav Havel Library. It also offers his dramas and some other works in written form.
The whole year 2016 is actually dedicated to Havel. People and institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad will also commemorate the fifth anniversary of Havel’s death in December.
