A C D E F H J K L M N P R S T U V W Z
Adamec, Ladislav - Communist Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from October 12, 1988 to December 7, 1989. [ More ]
Albee, Edward - Renowned American playwright, theatrical producer and long-time supporter of Havel. [ More ]
Anti-Charter [Anticharta] - Various documents circulated by the Czechoslovak government in 1977 denouncing the Charter 77 signatories as demagogic and anti-socialist enemies of the state. [ More ]
Charter 77 [Charta 77] - Originally the term referred to a document dated January 1, 1977 and signed by 243 Czechoslovak citizens from various walks of life. The document was carefully composed so as not to violate Czechoslovak laws against organized political dissent, concentrating instead on “reminding” the regime of its previous committments to international human rights agreements. [ More ]
Civic Forum [Občanské fórum] - A loose political coalition formed on November 19, 1989 that sought to unify anti-communist factions in order to wrest governmental control from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. [ More ]
Dissident - In the Czechoslovak context during the period of communist rule, one who maintained alternative ideas or practices to those sanctioned by the regime. [ More ]
Dubček, Alexander - Reformist First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring of 1968. [ More ]
Einhorn, Edward - Artistic director of the Untitled Theater Company #61. [ More ]
February Revolution - The communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in late February, 1948. In the midst of a government crisis beginning February 20 communist ministers took control of key state organs, carried out purges, and armed “worker’s militias.” On February 25, President Edvard Beneš... [ More ]
Federal Assembly [Federální Shromáždění] - The Czechoslovak federal parliament, consisting of a Chamber of Nations and a Chamber of the People. [ More ]
Forman, Miloš - Czech-born actor, screenwriter, Columbia University film professor and Academy Award winning director. [ More ]
Havel, Ivan - A computer scientist and philosopher, and only brother of Václav Havel. [ More ]
Havlová, Dagmar (née Veškrnová) - A Czech actress and wife of Václav Havel since 1997. [ More ]
Havlová, Olga (née Šplíchalová) - Wife of Václav Havel from 1964 until her death in 1996. Co-publisher (with Václav) of the samizdat press Edice Expedice. [ More ]
Husák, Gustáv - President of Czechoslovakia 1975-1989. [ More ]
Jakeš, Miloš - Head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at the time of the Velvet Revolution. [ More ]
Klaus, Václav - Current President of the Czech Republic, former member of Civic Forum, and President Havel's major political rival. [ More ]
Luers, Wendy - Founder and President of the Foundation for a Civil Society. Wife of former U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia and long-time friend and supporter of Havel. [ More ]
Luers, William - Former U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia and long-time friend and supporter of Havel. [ More ]
Lustration [Lustrace] - Policies in post-communist countries that prohibited former Communist Party officials and informers from holding state offices and other positions of responsibility or privilege. [ More ]
Malý, Václav - Roman Catholic priest, Charter 77 signatory, cofounder of VONS and Civic Forum. [ More ]
Normalization [Normalizace] - The policies instituted in Czechoslovakia following the Warsaw-Pact invasion in August 1968 and continuing into the late 1980s. [ More ]
Novák, Jan - Czech-born author, translator and filmmaker residing in Chicago. [ More ]
Palouš, Martin - Political philosopher, Charter 77 signatory, founding member of Civi,c Forum, former Czech ambassador to the United States and current ambassador to the United Nations. [ More ]
Papp, Joseph - Founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival and director of the 1968 production of Havel’s The Memorandum, the first production of one of Havel’s plays in the United States. [ More ]
Patočka, Jan - A prominent Czechoslovak philosopher and an important influence on Havel’s thought. [ More ]
Phenomenology - A philosophical method which emphasizes the analysis of introspective experience of phenomena and a “bracketing” of assumptions about the relationship of experience to any external cause. [ More ]
Plastic People of the Universe - A Prague-based psychedelic rock band. Members of the group were tried on charges of organized disturbance of the peace in 1976, and the Plastic People trial was a major spur to the creation of the Charter 77 movement. [ More ]
Prague Spring - A term originally used by Western journalists to refer to a period of cultural and political liberalization in Czechoslovakia in 1968. [ More ]
Reed, Lou - Legendary rock musician, songwriter, and member of the Velvet Underground, the seminal garage band from the late 1960s. [ More ]
Remnick, David - Journalist who covered the Velvet Revolution in Prague, 1989. Remnick is currently editor of The New Yorker magazine. [ More ]
Samizdat - Clandestinely produced and distributed writings. Samizdat generally took the form of carbon copies of typewritten texts. Two important samizdat publishers in Czechoslovakia, both of which regularly published Havel’s work in the 1970s and 1980s, were Edice petlice and Edice expedice.... [ More ]
Soros, George - Speculator, investor and philanthropist. Soros was a major benefactor of the Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia. [ More ]
StB - Czechoslovakian State Security [“Státní bezpečnost”]; a non-uniformed secret police force, largely concerned with suppressing dissent. [ Wikipedia ]... [ More ]
Tamizdat - Works of Czechoslovak writers, generally those suppressed within Czechoslovakia, published abroad. Prominent Czechoslovak tamizdat outlets included 68 Publishers in Canada, the press agency Palach Press in Great Britain, and the magazine Svědectví in France.... [ More ]
Theater of Small Forms - A trend in the theater of the late 1950s and 1960s in Czechoslovakia, characterized by the use of intimate venues and experimental repertoire. [ More ]
Theater of the Absurd - A category of drama most prominent in Europe in the mid-twentieth century, characterized by apparently nonsensical dialogue or situations that challenge or complicate the conventions of rational thought. [ More ]
Theatre on the Balustrade (Divadlo Na zábradlí) - Theater in Prague founded in 1958. During the 1960s it was the center of progressive theater in Czechoslovakia, and especially the theater of the absurd. Havel began there as a stagehand and eventually became playwright. He was left the theater... [ More ]
Underground - The cultural movement which sought to maintain a space for unrestrained art and thought amidst the censorship and institutional control of the normalization era in Czechoslovakia. The “underground” included writers, visual artists and performers, and was often the focus of... [ More ]
Urbánek, Zdeněk - Author and translator, especially noted for his translations of Shakespeare into Czech. [ More ]
VONS - Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted [Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných]. VONS sought to publicize the Czechoslovak regime’s persecution of Charter 77 signatories. [ More ]
Velvet Divorce - Common English-language journalistic term for the non-violent dissolution of The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic into the independent states of Slovakia and the Czech Republic on January 1, 1993. [ More ]
Velvet Revolution [Sametová revoluce] - General term for the non-violent demonstrations and negotiations in November and December 1989 that led to the end of communist control of Czechoslovakia. [ More ]
Warsaw Pact - A “Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance” among communist states of Central and Eastern Europe signed May 14, 1955. The agreement included cooperation in both civilian and military institutions. Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia on the night of August... [ More ]
Žantovský, Michael - A translator and writer, Žantovský was a founding member of Civic Forum. Since 1990 he has served as press secretary to President Havel, as Ambassador to the United States and to Israel, and as a Senator of the Czech Republic. [ More ]