Václav Havel in his own words
Czechia has given the world many notable figures. However, no Czech has garnered as much respect worldwide in recent history as Prague-born Václav Havel.
Václav Havel was born on October 5, 1936, into a wealthy entrepreneurial and intellectual family that, among other things, owned the Lucerna Palace in the center of Prague. Although his bourgeois family background made it difficult for him to pursue an education under the communist regime, he graduated from the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in the 1960s, when he was about thirty years old. He initially worked as a stagehand but soon began directing, writing his own plays, and publishing essays and reflections. After the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces, he lost the opportunity to work in theater, but his financial independence was secured through income from abroad. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was repeatedly imprisoned in various parts of the country for his views and dissident activities. He also spent much time at his cottage in Hrádeček, near Trutnov. Nevertheless, Prague, where he lived in a house on Rašínovo Embankment, always remained the main center of his activities.
When the pivotal year 1989 arrived, he became the main leader of the newly formed anti-communist opposition, represented by Civic Forum. As its sole candidate, he was elected president of what was still socialist Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989. After the free elections, he was confirmed in office but stepped down in 1992 when it became clear that the shared state of Czechs and Slovaks was heading toward dissolution. He then served as the president of the independent Czech Republic twice, leading the country from 1993 until 2003.
During his presidency, Václav Havel gave hundreds of interviews to Czech Radio journalists. As president, he often discussed, explained, and commented on current political and social issues. Perhaps this is why his post-2003 interviews, when he could speak more freely as a private citizen, are more interesting in retrospect. For example, he described his relationship with the media.
"Honestly, I've stopped reading newspapers. I used to read several newspapers every morning, but it was taking up too much of my time. Now I just watch TV news or listen to news on radio, usually during the day. But I can’t help but keep up with what’s happening, especially since I have my own small office that monitors everything, works, and alerts me when there’s something I need to respond to. They also constantly ask me how to reply to emails, invitations, or various other requests that come my way. So, I do keep track of Czech political events.”
Even though some critics felt that Václav Havel was perhaps too lenient toward the communists after November 1989, he never forgot, even as a former president, the damage their regime had caused to monuments and public spaces in general.
"It seems that it would really be very beneficial for the overall atmosphere in society if such cases were pointed out, and possibly even if someone were prosecuted, if prosecutable under any section of the criminal code. Because it would show that we don't completely disregard this, that the nation's identity, which is constantly being talked about – politicians repeat the phrase 'national interests' in every sentence – but the identity of a nation is inconceivable without some sort of continuity, without an awareness of who we were yesterday, what we did the day before, and where we live. And if our shared heritage is neglected, destroyed, or disrespected, it is simultaneously an attack on our contemporary identity.”
“But this is something that probably isn't tied exclusively to the communist era, although it was particularly striking back then—the ways in which various monuments, historic buildings, and urbanism, in general, were treated. Even that is part of identity, the fact that a city has a certain logic in the way it has evolved over centuries, but it continues today. It’s no longer under the banner of some government ideology, it’s under different banners—chiefly those of prosperity, profit, growing GDP, and investment incentives, and so on. These are the banners being waved now. But again, I've encountered it here. Not far from here, there are several villages that are set to be hit hard by mining. This is a region that is still socially unstable, still unsettled here in the borderlands, where today's settlers have, in some way, integrated, mapped out their identity, stand by it, and are proud of it in their own way. And suddenly, it's going to be brutally disrupted—they’ll tear up their village squares. These people won't be able to bear it, and eventually, they will start to withdraw; otherwise, it will just be postponed. This is an example that comes to mind at the moment. It's certainly not of national importance, but I use it to illustrate that it wasn’t just in the communist era."
He also didn’t shy away from recalling how, even at Hrádeček, he was constantly under the surveillance of agents from the communist secret police – State Security (StB). And sometimes, he had to escape through the surrounding woods.
"Well, I'm not a great expert about the local geography; in fact, I often get lost around here. But there were situations when I really had to flee through the woods in the winter, in snow and a blizzard. At the time, I was a spokesperson for Charter 77, and we had a planned meeting of the three spokespeople in Prague, where we were supposed to adopt several different documents. I think it happened two or three times that I had to flee in this dramatic way. Sometimes they caught me in the woods, sometimes they didn’t, but I think I managed to get through the most important things."
He also clarified a widely circulated story that, one time, StB agents asked him if he wanted to go to the cinema to see the then very popular film Jaws by director Steven Spielberg.
"Yes, something like that really did happen once. It wasn't Jaws; I think it was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid playing in that big summer cinema at Bojiště in Trutnov. Yes, the agents were constantly with me—it wasn’t easy for them here. The house is quite isolated, surrounded by nature on all sides, so keeping watch was sometimes quite complicated. But eventually, we got to know each other and communicated in a somewhat polite manner, so I didn’t run away from them too often. Although there were a few times when I had to, and I did manage to escape them. And many times they also caught me while I was running away. But I think I actually went to the cinema that time because of them."
Havel also shared that he had an idea for a new play.
"I have a certain theme for a play. It's been quite a while since I was president, and I'm getting a bit anxious that I haven't written it yet, but on the other hand, I tell myself it's not an obligation, and I can write it now or in ten years. Nevertheless, it’s starting to weigh on me a little. A specific theme is taking shape in my mind, but I don’t seem to have enough focus. I have countless unfinished responsibilities, tasks, distracting experiences, and I also feel burdened by a different kind of expectation after all these years. People keep asking me: 'Have you written anything yet? What is it about?' and so on. And that doesn’t exactly increase my desire to write. I honestly think I've written enough in my life that I’m not obligated to write anything. And also, if I may say so, I’m a bit tired of writing' because during my presidency, there was no break from it —quite the opposite. During that time, I wrote more than I ever have in my life, as I was writing my speeches almost every weekend. I couldn’t just read something someone else had written, and in the end, I wrote an enormous amount. So maybe I just need to take a breather. I probably need to recharge, and one day it might come, and I’ll sit down and write something important—or maybe I won’t write anything at all."
Eventually, Václav Havel did sit down and write his final play, Leaving. After its American premiere in Philadelphia, he shared his immediate impressions with Czech Radio.
"I'm curious to see how many people will actually come to see it. Today at the premiere, there was probably a more intellectual audience, which received it very kindly. They even noticed certain things that people back home wouldn’t usually pick up on. But what will happen next, I don’t know—we’ll see."
Q: Whenever a text is translated, certain shifts inevitably occur. Did you feel that the shifts were significant here? Was there anything that you felt was missing from the original Czech version, or conversely, was there something added that wasn't in the Czech?
"Yes, both are true. There were moments when something inevitably got lost, simply because it was so closely tied to the language that it was untranslatable. But I’ve experienced this with all of my plays—this happens. And here and there, something shone through with a different meaning than I knew it could have, and that of course makes any author happy when it happens. Because the author is really just a medium that serves something, but they aren’t an all-knowing figure who lectures the world on how things really are."
Q: I hope this isn’t an unfair question, but if you were to compare this performance here with the ones in other countries, like Croatia, Bulgaria, or if I’m not mistaken, Germany—would you say it’s roughly on the same level, or is it better in some ways, worse in others?
"I haven’t seen all of the productions, but when I could, I tried to attend because I was interested. I would definitely place this performance in the upper half, if we were ranking them based on popularity or respect for its merits. It's in a very good spot."
Q: What is it like for you, as the author, to have your play performed here in Philadelphia? Of course, some of your other plays have already been performed on this side of the Atlantic. But this is your first play since, let’s say, you stepped down from political life. Do you feel any connection with the actors? Do you feel they understand internally what they’re performing, what you had in mind?
"Well, I haven’t written anything for the theater in 20 years—I had another job and other concerns—but I don’t feel it’s a tragic break. It feels like I wrote those previous plays just the day before yesterday."
Q: So, it feels the same?
"I would say yes, but others will have to judge that. Of course, I’m in a more complicated situation because many people were waiting with a kind of malicious curiosity, eager to say that I had become estranged from it, that there was no way back. But nothing like that has really come up, or only to a minimal extent. So, I can’t complain."
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