An intellectual, playwright, and stagehand, Václav Havel became transformed into a leader of resistance against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia when he witnessed the brutal Soviet repression of the peaceful "Prague Spring"of 1968. As a reward, he was arrested, imprisoned, and pestered by the police. Yet he continued to resist. With the fall of communism in the U.S.S.R. and eastern Europe, Havel helped ensure that the revolution in his own country was "velvet," rather than violent, as Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two separate states, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He serves as the elected president of the Czech Republic.

1. A narrative resumé of Václav Havel's life, which sets his personal accomplishments into the context of modern Czech history, may be read at
   http://fmv.vse.cz/cz/cz/havel.html
   and a similar site is located at
   http://www.cnn.com/resources/newsmakers/world/europe/havel.html
2. Havel believes that, in the present political climate, "cultural conflicts are becoming more dangerous than any time in history. A new model of coexistence is needed." Read his 1994 speech on the topic at
   http://www.worldtrans.org/whole/havelspeech.html
3. One of the formative events for Havel and his generation was the Soviet invasion that crushed the "Prague Spring" of 1968. See Soviet tanks rolling through Prague along with other photos at
   http://www.european-history.com/prague_spring.html