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On the 90th anniversary of his birth, HRF remembers Václav Havel — Czech dissident, playwright, democracy advocate, first president of the Czech Republic, and HRF's second chairman.

Havel demonstrated that confronting dictatorship is not only a political act, but a moral one: democracy begins when individuals refuse to “live within a lie.” His example continues to inspire dissidents and democracy advocates worldwide and remains deeply embedded in HRF’s work.

Under Czechoslovakia’s communist dictatorship, Havel transformed his art and writing into instruments of resistance. His plays were banned, while essays such as “The Power of the Powerless” gave dissidents a language to challenge authoritarian rule.

A leading figure behind Charter 77, Havel endured years of surveillance, harassment, and repeated imprisonment for his activism. In 1989, he became a central figure in the peaceful Velvet Revolution, which ended four decades of communist rule.

That year, he was elected president of Czechoslovakia. Between 1993 and 2003, he served as the first president of the Czech Republic.

Havel also sent remarks that year at our first Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway where he reflected on the Responsibility of a Free Society: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuXD...

Havel passed away in December 2011. To honor his legacy, HRF launched the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent in 2012 with the support of Dagmar Havlová, Havel's widow.