Glossary of Terms
A C D E F H J K L M N P R S T U V W Z
A
Adamec, Ladislav - Communist Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from October 12, 1988 to December 7, 1989. Adamec took part in negotiations with Civic Forum that led to the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
[ Wikipedia]
Albee, Edward - Renowned American playwright, theatrical producer and long-time supporter of Havel. [ Encyclopædia Britannica ] [ Wikipedia ]
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. The campaign against Chartists was started off on January 12 in the newspaper Rudé právo, and on January 28 a gala evening was held at the National Theater where officially approved artists and performers signed a petition in support of the communist government. Czechoslovak citizens were often pressured to sign anti-charters as a precondition of employment or other privileges.
C
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. On January 7, 1977 the full text of a German translation of the document appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and later in various languages worldwide. The regime's retalliation against signatories of the Charter was harsh, and many Czechoslovaks were pressured to sign an “anti-Charter.” The term “Charter 77” was later used to refer to the loose association of activists who continued to publicize pronouncements on the Czechoslovak government’s violations of civil and political rights, and the movement inspired several international organizations dedicated to protecting human rights and civil society. At its peak the association included some 2,600 signatories.
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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. With Havel as the leading figure, Civic Forum successfully negotiated a coalition government with the Communist Party in December 1989, opening the door for democratization and reform.
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D
Dissident - In the Czechoslovak context during the period of communist rule, the term was used to refer to those who maintained alternative ideas or practices--whether political, religious or social--to those sanctioned by the regime. Havel often resisted the label because of its connotation of setting oneself apart from the forces of power and society, rather than working from within it.
Dubček, Alexander - Reformist First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring of 1968. Dubček replaced Antonín Novotný as First Secretary on January 5, 1968 and began instituting reforms and a period of liberalization, characterizing his vision as “socialism with a human face [socialismus s lidskou tváří].” Following the Warsaw Pact invasion of August 1968 that ended the reform trend in Czechoslovakia, he was demoted in the party ranks and eventually had his membership revoked. Dubček remained in obscurity in Czechoslovakia until reentering public life during the Velvet Revolution in 1989.
E
Einhorn, Edward - Artistic director of the Untitled Theater Company #61, which is presenting a festival of all eighteen of Havel's plays in New York from October to December 2006.
F
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 accepted the resignation of non-communist ministers and the communists took total control of the government, declaring the country a “people’s democracy” in a new constitution. Following the revolution, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia centralized government, nationalized property and the economy, and aligned Czechoslovakia more closely with the Soviet Union.
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Federal Assembly [Federální Shromáždění] - The Czechoslovak federal parliament from January 1, 1969 (when it succeeded the National Assembly [Národní Shromáždění]) until the end of the Czechoslovak state on December 31, 1992. The assembly consisted of a Chamber of the People [Sněmovna lidu] in which seats were distributed proportional to population, and a Chamber of Nations [Sněmovna národů] in which the Czech and Slovak Republics were given equal representation.
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Forman, Miloš - Czech-born actor, screenwriter, Columbia University film professor and Academy Award winning director. Forman has been a friend of Havel's since the two men were schoolmates in Poděbrady, Czechoslovakia.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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H
Havel, Ivan - A computer scientist and philosopher, and only brother of Václav Havel.
Havlová, Dagmar (née Veškrnová) - A Czech actress and wife of Václav Havel since 1997.
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.
Husák, Gustáv - A Communist Party leader who became President of Czechoslovakia in 1975. He resigned as President in December 1989, and Havel was elected to fill the post.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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J
Jakeš, Miloš - Head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at the time of the Velvet Revolution. He replaced Gustáv Husák as General Secretary in December 1987. His resignation on November 24, 1989, along with that of the other members of the Central Committee Presidium, was one of the decisive events of the Velvet Revolution. [ Wikipedia ]
K
Klaus, Václav - Currently President of the Czech Republic, Klaus was an economist who joined Civic Forum shortly after its formation. He co-founded the country's major right-wing party, the Civil Democratic Party [Občanská demokratická strana] in 1991, and is generally considered to have been President Havel's major political rival.
L
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.
Luers, William - Former U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia, former President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, current President of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and long-time friend and supporter of Havel.
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. Havel opposed such policies as President of Czechoslovakia, maintaining that they would only serve to perpetuate the injustices of the communist era by barring large numbers of citizens from participating in society.
M
Malý, Václav - Roman Catholic priest, Charter 77 signatory, cofounder of VONS and Civic Forum. Malý is currently Auxiliary Bishop of Prague and Titular Bishop of Marcelliana.
N
Normalization [Normalizace] - The policies instituted in Czechoslovakia following the Warsaw-Pact invasion in August 1968 and continuing into the late 1980s. Normalization was a general roll-back of the reforms carried out during the Prague Spring, and was characterized by a tightening of censorship, purges of state positions, restriction of political organizations and an overall stagnation of political, cultural and social life.
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Novák, Jan - Czech-born author, translator and filmmaker residing in Chicago.
P
Palouš, Martin - Political philosopher, Charter 77 signatory, founding member of Civic Forum, former Czech ambassador to the United States and current ambassador to the United Nations.
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. Papp continued to produce and promote Havel's work in America, and the two remained friends until Papp's death in 1991.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
[ Wikipedia ]
Patočka, Jan - A prominent Czechoslovak philosopher and an important influence on Havel's thought. Patočka was a student of Husserl and Heidegger and developed phenomenology in general as well as in a specifically Czechoslovak context. He was leading figure in the creation of Charter 77 and a spokesman of the movement. His death of heart attack in March 1977 is often linked to intense interrogation by the StB.
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Phenomenology - A philosophical method, generally associated with the Moravian-born German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and his followers, which emphasizes the analysis of introspective experience of phenomena and a “bracketing” of assumptions about the relationship of experience to any external cause. The most prominent Czechoslovak phenomenologist was Jan Patočka.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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Plastic People of the Universe - A Prague-based psychedelic rock band formed in 1968, shortly after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. The band’s nonconformist style and attitudes ran afoul of officially sanctioned norms, and the Plastic People often held their performances in secret locations outside of Prague in an attempt—frequently unsuccessful—to avoid conflicts with the authorities. Police often broke up concerts, sometimes arresting or beating fans and band members. After one such concert in February 1976, police arrested twenty-seven musicians and fans, and four were eventually sentenced to prison terms of 18 to 8 months on charges of organized disturbance of the peace. The Plastic People trial was a major spur to the creation of the Charter 77 movement.
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[ Joseph Yanosik ]
Prague Spring - A term originally used by Western journalists to refer to a period of cultural and political liberalization in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Beginning January 5, 1968 when Alexander Dubček became first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the period was marked by Dubček’s attempt to create “socialism with a human face [socialismus s lidskou tváří]” in Czechoslovakia in order to shore-up popular support for the communist government in the face of economic troubles. Control of the press was loosened, accountability for police and security forces was promised, and plans were made to move toward a consumer economy to meet better the needs and desires of Czechoslovak citizens. As state control loosened, however, demands for further liberalization gained pace. The regimes of other communist states became nervous about the example being set in Czechoslovakia, leading to the Warsaw Pact invasion on August 20, and eventually to the reversal of reforms known as “normalization.” Following the invasion there was widespread popular outrage and passive resistance on the part of Czechoslovaks, but Soviet troops and the policies of normalization remained for some thirty years.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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R
Reed, Lou - Legendary rock musician, songwriter, and member of the Velvet Underground, the seminal garage band from the late 1960s. Lou Reed and Havel became friends when Reed was sent to interview Havel for a Rolling Stone magazine article. [ Wikipedia ]
Remnick, David - Journalist who covered the Velvet Revolution in Prague, 1989. Remnick is currently editor of The New Yorker magazine. [ Wikipedia ]
S
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.
Soros, George - Born in Hungary, Soros became a successful speculator and investor after moving to the United States as a young man. He used his fortune to fund philanthropic organizations emphasizing support for civil society, including the Open Society Institute and the Soros Foundations Network. He was a major benefactor of the Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
[ Wikipedia ]
StB - Czechoslovakian State Security [“Státní bezpečnost”]; a non-uniformed secret police force, largely concerned with suppressing dissent. [ Wikipedia ]
T
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.
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.
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.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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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 in 1968. [ Wikipedia ]
U
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 police harassment. Perhaps the most famous underground artists were those associated with the rock band The Plastic People of the Universe, who were often unable to perform legally and were beaten and jailed on account of their performances.
Urbánek, Zdeněk - Author and translator, especially noted for his translations of Shakespeare into Czech. After 1968 he became a proscribed writer in Czechoslovakia, though he continued to publish under friends' names and in samizdat. Urbánek was the Havel's neighbor at their country house at Hrádeček and is a close friend.
V
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.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
[ Wikipedia ]
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.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
[ Wikipedia ]
VONS - Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted [Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných]. Formed on April 24th, 1978, VONS sought to publicize the Czechoslovak regime’s persecution of Charter 77 signatories. In October 1979 eleven members of VONS, including Havel, were brought to trial on charges of undermining the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and five members were sentenced to terms in prison of three to five years.
W
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 20, 1968 in order to suppress the reform movement known as the Prague Spring.
[ Encyclopædia Britannica ]
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Z
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.