Asteroid named after Havel character

Astronomers from the Kleť Observatory in South Bohemia have named an asteroid they discovered after one of Václav Havel’s theatrical characters, Ferdinand Vaněk. The roughly two-kilometre long object was discovered in 2004 in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The team originally wanted to name it after the former president, however the International Astronomical Union does not allow bodies to be named after politicians until 100 years after their death. The popular character from Havel’s play “The Audience” was therefore chosen. Ferdinand Vaněk also made a notable public appearance in the 1980s when a birthday message was sneaked onto a page of the Communist newspaper Rudé Právo alongside a picture of dissident Václav Havel.