by Peter Holland (based on an article by Ben Tallis*)

illustration by Rostislav Kotil

illustration colors by Peter Holland

Name: Václav Havel
Born: 5 October 1936
Profession: Last President of Czechoslovakia; First President of Czech Republic
Accomplishment: Oversaw transition of Czechoslovakia to multi-party democracy, presided over (but opposed) Czech/Slovakian  and Czech accession into NATO. Also a noted playwright.       
Nationality: Czech

→ Philanthropy: 8/10
Worked peacefully to oppose Communist government as a dissident public voice. Experienced resulting persecution, including several years in prison. Was a leading figure in the bloodless Velvet Revolution, helped convert NATO from anti-Warsaw pact alliance into modern form that includes former Warsaw Pact members such as the Czech Republic.

→ Extremism: 6/10
Used to go to prison for what he believed in.

→ Guilt Factor: 2/10
In recent years, supported war in Iraq and installing American air bases in Czech Republic – has he turned on his youthful ideological positions?

→ Mythology / Mythbuster: 9/10
A living legend within Czech Republic, he has received high honors internationally and been compared to Gandhi and Nelson Mandela by former US president Bill Clinton.

→ Inspiration to Others: 8/10
Helped shape NATO and showed a way to peaceful revolution. However, some of the glitter seems to have faded in recent years.

*Apologies to Ben Tallis who we credited this profile to in the print issue! (We were unable to print his original article in the magazine and so had to use a profile based on his article instead. We weren't told in time for printing that this wasn't good enough for Ben, so here we formally apologise, re-attribute blame for the profile, and present the original article in it's full unadultarated glory).

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