Václav Havel: Biography and Places in Prague at 90
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Václav Havel (5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011) was a Czech playwright and dissident, a co-author of Charter 77 and, after the Velvet Revolution, the last president of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992) and the first president of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). In Prague his traces include the airport named after him, Václav Havel Square by the National Theatre, the Havel benches, Lucerna Palace, Café Slavia and the family tomb at Vinohrady Cemetery. He would have turned 90 on 5 October 2026. Around Prague checked the biography against the 1st Presidential Library (formerly the Václav Havel Library), and the places against the airport, Prague City Tourism, Café Slavia and ČTK on 30 October 2026.
Václav Havel: key dates
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 5 October 1936 | Born in Prague; his grandfather built Lucerna Palace, his father the Barrandov Terraces |
| 1948 | The communists confiscate the family's property; the sons are barred from further study |
| 1960 | Joins the Theatre on the Balustrade (Na zábradlí), later as dramaturg |
| 3 December 1963 | Premiere of The Garden Party |
| 6 January 1977 | Charter 77 published; Havel is one of its first three spokesmen |
| 1979–1983 | In prison, sentenced to four and a half years for subversion |
| 29 December 1989 | Elected president of Czechoslovakia |
| 20 July 1992 | Resigns before the split of the federation |
| 26 January 1993 | First president of the Czech Republic; re-elected in 1998 |
| 2 February 2003 | Leaves office |
| 18 December 2011 | Dies at his country house, Hrádeček, near Trutnov |
Playwright and dissident
Barred from further study for class reasons, Havel finished school at evening classes while working as a lab assistant; humanities faculties turned him down, and only in 1962 was he admitted to distance study at the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU). The Theatre on the Balustrade staged The Garden Party (1963), The Memorandum (1965) and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration (1968). After 1969 he was banned at home, so his new plays premiered abroad; Vienna's Burgtheater staged Audience and Private View first, in 1976.
Charter 77, a human rights manifesto, appeared on 6 January 1977 with Havel among its first spokesmen. He wrote the essay The Power of the Powerless in 1978 and in 1979 was sentenced to four and a half years; his prison letters became Letters to Olga. Severe pneumonia got him released in 1983. In January 1989, after protests on Wenceslas Square, he was jailed again and paroled in May.
President, 1989–2003
In November 1989, after police broke up a student demonstration, the Civic Forum emerged with Havel as its leader. Parliament elected him president on 29 December 1989 and again on 5 July 1990, after the first free elections. He resigned on 20 July 1992, after the Slovak National Council declared sovereignty. On 26 January 1993 he became the first president of the Czech Republic, was re-elected in 1998, saw the country join NATO on 12 March 1999 and left office on 2 February 2003.
His first wife Olga died in 1996; in 1997 he married Dagmar Veškrnová. Germany awarded him the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1989 and the Charlemagne Prize of Aachen in 1991. He died on 18 December 2011; the state funeral took place on 23 December in St Vitus Cathedral.
Václav Havel's Prague: places to see
Václav Havel Airport Prague
Prague-Ruzyně Airport was renamed on 5 October 2012 after a petition by film director Fero Fenič gathered more than 80,000 signatures. Transfers: our airport guide.
1st Presidential Library (formerly the Václav Havel Library)
Ostrovní 13, Prague 1. In September 2026 it took the name "1. prezidentská knihovna" after Havel's widow, Dagmar Havlová, withdrew consent to use his name; on 21 September she gave the licence for his name and legacy to the Prague City Library. The archive is open to researchers on Tuesdays, 9:00–17:00; other visits by appointment.
Havel benches
Two chairs joined by a round table with a tree growing through it, a project of designer Bořek Šípek and ambassador Petr Gandalovič. The first was placed in Washington (2013), the first in Czechia on 1 May 2014 on Maltézské náměstí in the Lesser Town. Prague has others on Smetanovo nábřeží and, since 21 September 2026, on Mariánské náměstí outside City Hall.
Lucerna Palace
Štěpánská 61, by Wenceslas Square. Havel's grandfather, the engineer Vácslav Havel, began it in 1906; the Great Hall for about 4,000 people was finished in 1920, and it was one of Prague's first reinforced concrete buildings. It now belongs to Dagmar Havlová, wife of Havel's brother Ivan.
Café Slavia
Národní 1, opposite the National Theatre, open since 1884. Havel was a regular, and according to architect Zdeněk Lukeš (Radio Prague) he first met Olga here. After a long post-1989 closure it reopened on 17 November 1997, following Havel's campaign.
Václav Havel Square
The piazzetta between the historic National Theatre and Karel Prager's New Stage has borne Havel's name since 4 October 2016, the eve of his 80th birthday. Kurt Gebauer's 160 cm granite heart stands here.
The family house on Rašínovo nábřeží
The Art Nouveau house U Dvou tisíc at Rašínovo nábřeží 78 was built by Havel's grandfather in the early 1900s. Havel grew up there and lived there for about 40 years in all; the Dancing House later rose next door. Since 18 December 2019 a plaque by Prague 2 reads "Zde jsem taky žil" ("I lived here, too").
Vinohrady Cemetery
Vinohradská 294/212, Prague 10. He lies with Olga in the family tomb in the side wall of the St Wenceslas chapel. Open daily 8:00–17:00 November to February, 8:00–18:00 in March, April and October, and 8:00–19:00 May to September.
Havel at 90: what is on in 2026
- Havel ALIVE! Until January 2027 Prague Castle and Lány Chateau host debates, screenings, concerts and exhibitions. Next: the play Zítra to spustíme in the Castle's Riding School (Jízdárna) on 4 November, and a screening of Leaving (Odcházení) with a debate with Dagmar Havlová on 15 December.
- The unfinished play. On 23 October the Riding School hosted the Czech premiere of The Warning (Varování), which director Jiří Havelka reconstructed from manuscripts in Zdeněk Urbánek's papers; President Petr Pavel attended.
- 5 October. The Senate and Prague 6 unveiled a plaque on the house where Havel lived at the time of Charter 77, and a Havel bench was unveiled in Frankfurt am Main.
- Bill Clinton remembered Havel in an interview with Czech Radio. In January 1994 the two went to the Reduta jazz club on Národní, where Clinton played the saxophone; see our guide to Prague's jazz clubs.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Who was Václav Havel?
A Czech playwright and dissident, co-author of Charter 77, last president of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992) and first president of the Czech Republic (1993–2003).
Where is Václav Havel buried?
In the family tomb at Vinohrady Cemetery, Prague 10, next to his first wife Olga.
When was Prague airport named after Václav Havel?
On 5 October 2012, which would have been his 76th birthday.
Where can I find a Havel bench in Prague?
The first in Czechia is on Maltézské náměstí (since 2014); others are on Smetanovo nábřeží and Mariánské náměstí.
Was Václav Havel in prison?
Yes. His longest term was 1979–1983; he was also held for months in 1977 and jailed again in 1989.
Sources: 1st Presidential Library: early years, dissident, president, plays, awards, Havel benches, airport history, prague.eu: Lucerna, prague.eu: Václav Havel Square, prague.eu: Vinohrady Cemetery, Café Slavia, Radio Prague: Havel's Prague, Radio Prague on Clinton at Reduta, ČT24 on the funeral and tomb, ČTK on the plaque, Novinky on the name licence, ČTK on the 90th anniversary, Havel ALIVE! programme, Seznam Zprávy on The Warning. Checked on 30 October 2026.
See also: Clinton remembers friend Havel on his 90th birthday, Václav Havel would have turned 90: why his ideas are still alive, Havel's unfinished play "Warning" shown at Prague Castle, Prague Castle from the inside.
Photo: Václav Havel at Prague Castle, 12 July 1990. Fortepan / Szalay Zoltán, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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