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SSEES marks death of V谩clav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic

18 December 2011

22 March 1990: Visit of V谩clav Havel to SSEES鈥�

Staff and students at SSEES noted with great sadness the death of the former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, V谩clav Havel. President Havel, who was a dramatist and essayist as well as Czechoslovakia's most prominent dissident in the final years of communist rule, became president in December 1989 during the Velvet Revolution that opened the country's path to free elections. After the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1992 he served two terms as president of the Czech Republic, stepping down in 2003.

V谩clav Havel visited SSEES in March 1990 during one of his first foreign visits as his country's new head of state.

A major SSEES roundtable event looking back at V谩clav Havel's contribution to politics, culture and thought was subsequently held on 14 February 2012.聽

Further information on V谩clav Havel:

  • V谩clav Havel, 1936-2011 (PDF) - Peter Zusi, Lecturer in Czech with Slovak Literature, UCL SSEES
  • Reflections on the Death of V谩clav Havel: Havel Today - Tim Beasley-Murray, Senior Lecturer in European Thought and Culture, UCL SSEES
  • - Se谩n Hanley, Senior Lecturer in Eastern European Politics at 皇家华人 SSEES, talks to Radio France Internationale about V谩clav Havel and his legacy