Club / News / Program
Three candidates shortlisted for the 2023 Václav Havel Prize 05/09/23
The selection panel of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond, has today announced the shortlist for the 2023 Award. Meeting in Prague today, the panel – made up of independent figures from the world of human rights and chaired by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tiny Kox – decided to shortlist the following three nominees, in alphabetical order: More
Three candidates shortlisted for the 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 06/09/22
The discussion among the seven-member jury helmed by the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe centred on the importance of the issue of human rights during this tense period. The finalists include Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political prisoner and leading Russian democracy campaigner; Ukraine’s 5 AM Coalition, which gathers evidence of human rights abuses stemming from Russia’s invasion of the country; and Hungary’s Rainbow Coalition defending LGBTQIA+ rights. “This year’s selection reflects the central role that human rights play in the current European crisis,” says Michael Žantovský, jury member and executive director of the Václav Havel Library, which bestows the prize in cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Nadace Charty 77.
The Other Europe 27/04/22
Dear Friends, After three years we have completed the international project The Other Europe, during which, in cooperation with partner institutions, we have processed and made public recordings of interviews shot in 1987 and 1988 behind the Iron Curtain, and in exile, with important representatives of the opposition and the arts, as well as random citizens. Over those three years we have prepared video, audio and text of 106 interviews in speakers’ native languages and English translation. Despite public health restrictions in the Covid period, we have jointly prepared 16 international conferences and public presentations in six Central and Eastern European states. More
From Schuman to Havel – what next? 16/02/22
The Václav Havel Library is a proud partner of the project Beyond Robert Schuman’s Europe More
Program for April 2015<>
entry-free
Satyricon, or who does this benefit?
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 1, 2015, 10:30 – 12:30
Are television, radio and the press lacking in satire? Why? What is the status of art and entertainment in the media sphere and how might they develop? Should humour offer gentle and objective relief? And are there limits to humour?
The debate, featuring speakers such as David Vávra, Tomáš Žižka and Lenka Bočková, will be chaired by Petr Placák.
Organised by Slabiky CZ in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library.
Magnesia Litera III
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 1, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
Reading by authors nominated for some of the seven categories in the annual Magnesia Litera book awards.
Writers from various categories will read and speak: Ondřej Horák, Jiří Franta: Proč obrazy nepotřebují názvy (Why Pictures Don’t Need Titles) (from the Best Children or Young Adult Book category); Hana Lundiaková: IMAGO. Ty trubko! (IMAGO: You Dolt!) (Prose); Michal Maršálek: Černá bere (The Black Takes) (Poetry); Martin Reiner: Básník (Poet) (Prose).
Presented by Pavel Mandys from organisers the Litera civic association.
The Gospel According to Brabenec
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 2, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
Vratislav Brabenec in a documentary by Miroslav Janek based on a book of interviews conducted with Brabenec by Renata Kalenská. A talk with the makers will follow the screening (90 min.).
Václav Havel and the transformation of Czech society in photographs I: Karel Cudlín
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 7, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
A series presenting the work of photographers who captured Václav Havel over a period of several years.
The first evening is dedicated to Karel Cudlín, who presents pictures of Václav Havel from the 1980s until recent times, as well as photographs capturing society, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe – photos of refugees, foreign labourers, war veterans, the Jewish and Roma communities.
Václav Havel as Creator of the Judiciary
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 7, 2015, 17:00 – 18:30
A debate on the book Padni komu padni (Whoever Gets Hurt Gets Hurt), a biography of Constitutional Court judge Eliška Wagnerová, chaired by Jindřich Šídlo.
Invited guests include Miroslav Sylla, the book’s author Tomáš Němeček, Constitutional Court judge Kateřina Šimáčková and lawyer Vojen Güttler.
Karel Cudlín: Václav Havel and the transformation of Czech society in photographs II
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 7, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
A series presenting the work of photographers who captured Václav Havel over a period of several years.
The second evening is dedicated to Karel Cudlín, who will present pictures of Václav Havel from the 1980s until recent times, as well as photographs capturing the transformation of society, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, including the departure of Russian soldiers, refugees, foreign labourers, war veterans, and the Jewish and Roma communities.
The Underground Phenomenon: Abbé Libánský
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 8, 2015, 10:00 – 12:00
A series of lectures on the Czech underground as a social, political and historical phenomenon organised by the Historical Sociology department at Charles University’s Faculty of Humanities and the Václav Havel Library and headed by sociologist Nicolas Maslowski.
Magnesia Litera IV
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 8, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
Reading by authors nominated for some of the seven categories in the annual Magnesia Litera book awards.
Writers from various categories will read and speak: Alice Horáčková: Vladimíra Čerepková – Básnická femme fatale Vladimíra Čerepková – Poetic Femme Fatale) (from the Newcomer of the Year category); Alžběta Michalová: Zřetelně nevyprávíš (You’re Clearly Not Telling) (Newcomer of the Year); Milena Slavická: Hagibor (Prose).
Presented by Pavel Mandys from organisers the Litera civic association.
The Genocide of Armenians during WWI
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 9, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
This year marks 100 years since the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Considering the roots of the genocide, its denial and reflections on it will be Armenian Studies experts Haig Utidjian and Milada Kiliánová from Charles University’s Faculty of Arts and Šimon Krbec, a lawyer at the Faculty Evangelical Theology of Charles University and the Archaeology of Evil Research Centre. Historian Petr Šulc will chair the discussion.
When Mangoes Fall
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 13, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
Vojtěch Bílý was spending a year as a volunteer teacher in the Central African Republic when civil war broke out, driving over a million inhabitants from their homes. Working at a Carmelite mission that was transformed into a refugee camp, he monitored war crimes and witnessed the expulsion of Muslims, a move that severed tribal and friendly ties. Bílý has documented his experiences in the book Když padají manga (When Mangoes Fall).
He will present it alongside co-author Alenou Scheinostová.
A Walk Through Turnová’s Grove
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 14, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
Reading by bass player and writer Eva Turnová of selected essays and bitterly humorous glosses on the contemporary world packed with self-deprecation and dense sarcasm.
The Underground Phenomenon: Dáša Vokatá
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 15, 2015, 10:00 – 12:00
A series of lectures on the Czech underground as a social, political and historical phenomenon organised by the Historical Sociology department at Charles University’s Faculty of Humanities and the Václav Havel Library and headed by sociologist Nicolas Maslowski.
Marek Orko Vácha: From 19th Century Eugenics to the Human Genome Project
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 15, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
What nature has done blindly and randomly over aeons we are now about to do in a quick and targeted manner. In 1895 Charles Darwin published his most famous work.
Logically, it eventually inspired eugenics as an attempt to improve the generation of mankind. Positive eugenics, the attempt to eliminate that which was undesired, developed in an unfortunate manner, producing terrible results that stretched all the way to Auschwitz. Out of fear of a modern form of eugenics, when the idea of mapping the human genome was born in the 1980s some 3% of the annual budget was dedicated to ethical considerations of the undertaking. This gave rise to the most subsidised ethical project in the planet’s history.
Debate with Respekt: Mankind on the Run
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 16, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
The world is experiencing the biggest wave of refugees since WWII. We should prepare for the consequences. Chaired by Tomáš Sacher.
DG 307 Concert
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 17, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
... and presentation of the comic book Legendy o Magorovi (The Magor Legends). Minimum admission CZK 50.
The Secrets of an Arizona Suitcase
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 20, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
The life of J. A. Holman (1901–1980)
At the beginning of this year a heavy suitcase containing the estate of J. A. Holman made its way from the Arizona desert to the VHL. Why did this happen? And what do the initials stand for – Josef Alfred or Jan Alfred?
Patent winning inventor? Editor in chief of a technical magazine? Bon vivant? Model for advertisements? Automobile racer? Film director? Nazi collaborator? Resistance fighter? Senior post-war Economy Ministry official? Émigré? Representative of the Czechoslovak opposition in exile? Radio Free Europe editor? Most of these and similar questions will be answered during the evening by historian Petr Bednařík (Institute of Contemporary History at the Academy of Sciences, Faculty of Social Science, Charles University). The evening will conclude with J. A. Holman’s controversial 1942 film Velká přehrada (The Great Dam).
In cooperation with the National Film Archive.
The Challenges, Paradoxes and Plays of Václav Havel: The Mistake
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 21, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
The micro-play The Mistake is set in a prison cell, its “heroes” are six cons and the theme is the communication between them, respectively communication between people as such.
The first theatrical work Václav Havel wrote after his return from a four-year prison term in 1983 evidently reflects his recent grim experiences, including in the use of rough prison slang. The evening will focus on the circumstances surrounding the writing of the one-act play, its theatrical staging and imprisonment itself. We will also present the Havel miniature as performed by the Kašpar theatre company and directed by Jakub Špalek.
This series of evenings dedicated to Václav Havel’s plays has been prepared by Anna Freimanová.
“I welcome you, Holy Father, among us sinners.”
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 22, 2015, 18:00 – 20:00
An evening dedicated to Václav Havel’s meetings with Pope John Paul II, their personal friendship, John Paul II’s relationship to Czechoslovakia and the first ever papal visit in Czech history.
Chaired by Veronika Sedláčková; Tomáš Halík, František Mikloško and Pavel Fischer are due to attend.
Part of the series Our return to the map of the world.
The discussion will be broadcasted in live by TV Noe.
Photo (c) Luboš Kotek
Cities for People, People for Cities
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 23, 2015, 15:00 – 17:30
A discussion on the ideals and practice of civic participation in local government involving local politicians who are attempting, or have in the recent past attempted, to transform the way municipalities are run.
In both Poland and the Czech Republic there have been growing calls in recent years for greater involvement on the part of citizens in shaping the future of the cities and towns in which we live. How to harness that energy? How to evaluate the effectiveness of instruments such as the participatory creation of municipal budgets? And what happens when the ideals of urban activists run up against the realities of local politics?
The panel will include the deputy - mayor of Lodz, Grzegorz Justyński, the mayor of the regional city of Gorzow, Jacek Wójcicki, and Warsaw-Central councillor Jan Spiewak (of the City is Ours association). The mayor of Karlovy Vary, Petr Kulhánek, Radek Vondra and Lenka Burgerová will offer a Czech perspective.
The seminar is taking place on the 25th anniversary of local government reform in Poland and the Czech Republic and is being held in cooperation with reSITE and the Polish Institute in Prague.
Chrobák and Puzuk
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 23, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
The Havels in the Scouts
An evening focused on the time Václav and Ivan Havel spent in the scouts.
Ivan Havel (scout name Puzuk), Alois Strnad (Lojza), Radko Trohař (Radko) and several others will refer to notes from unique chronicles recalling their time in the movement. The director of the Scouting Institute Miloš Říha (Šípek) will chair the evening.
The ideals of scouting influenced an entire generation. They are espoused by several important figures for whom respect for mankind and nature, good morals, self-discipline, perseverance, solidarity and humility became lifelong values. The Havel brothers were also members of scout groups.
Women in the Syrian Revolution
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 24, 2015, 18:00 – 21:00
Activist Lamis Khalilová Bartůšková, Sandra Bitar, a Syrian activist with Czech roots, and painter Marie Sibaiová will discuss the insecurity of life at the centre of revolutionary Syria and particularly Syrian women who have become involved in the fight for human dignity. Šádí Shanaáh will chair the discussion.
The debate will be accompanied by a screening of chicagoGirl, a documentary about a student organising a protest on the other side of the world via social networking sites (2013, in English with Czech subtitles).
In cooperation with the Arabfest association as part of the Festival of Arab Culture.
Havel, un rêve français : rencontre avec Aurélie Morel
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 27, 2015, 17:00 – 19:00
Aurélie Morel est auteure de la pièce « Château hippie », qui se situe au moment de la venue de Franck Zappa à Prague, invité par le tout nouveau président Vaclav Havel, en janvier 1990.
D’abord journaliste, puis responsable d’action culturelle pour les bibliothèques, Aurélie Morel vit à Paris. Elle a habité Prague au début des années 1990. Passionnée par la langue tchèque, sa culture, sa scène rock underground et par les œuvres de Havel, elle a écrit « Château hippie » en hommage à cet homme politique hors normes que fut Vaclav Havel.
Lors de cette rencontre en français, Aurélie Morel lira des extraits de sa pièce et dialoguera avec le public, autour de la genèse de ce texte, de la vie politique et littéraire tchèque vue de France depuis 1989, de tout ce que cette Histoire récente tchèque peut apporter à la France.
Tomáš Glanc: Russian Performance Art Between Orthodoxy and Activism
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 27, 2015, 20:00 – 22:00
The third evening in the lecture series Living Souls: Current Russian Culture and its Czech Connections with Russian Studies expert Tomáš Glanc (Universität Zürich).
Performance art and happenings developed in Russia in a distinctive and authentic manner. How much the avant-garde cultural excesses of the 1950s and 1960s belong to the history of performance art remains an open question. However, since then art from beyond the world of galleries has been ever-present and influential. Paradoxically, its beginnings are linked to members of Dvizhenie (The Movement Group), who – thanks to their subversive imaginations – were brought together by contracts linked to the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution (1967).
In the post-Soviet era frequently wild performance art has become the showcase of contemporary art, culminating in the activities of the group Pussy Riot, which have won worldwide attention. Can performance art maintain its individuality? Or will it become hostage to the media and politics?
Journey to Israel
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 28, 2015, 15:00 – 19:00
Václav Havel was the first president in the history of Czechoslovakia to visit the State of Israel, on a trip that took place from 25–27.4.1990.
Václav Havel was the first president in the history of Czechoslovakia and the first leader of a post-communist country to visit the State of Israel, on a trip that took place on April 25–27 1990. Among the issues he discussed with the Israeli President Haim Herzog and other representatives was the possibility of holding peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Prague and the exodus of Soviet Jews through Czechoslovakia. During his visit to Jerusalem, Havel delivered the speech Kafka and My Presidency at the Hebrew University. Since that time, the Czech Republic and Israel have been developing and strengthening the historical ties rediscovered by Vaclav Havel 25 years ago.
Czech/English interpretation provided.
In cooperation with the Embassy of Israel.
Programme:
15.00–15.15 Opening: Marta Smolíková, Director of the VHL, H. E. Gary Koren, Ambassador of the State of Israel, and Jiří Diensbier, Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation
15.15–16.45 The 1990 Journey to Israel
Panel: Moshe Arens, Milan Kňažko, Yoel Sher, Alexandr Vondra
Chairman: Michael Žantovský
17.00–18.30 The Czech Republic and Israel Today, the Legacy of Vaclav Havel
Panel: Shlomo Avineri, Magdalena Křížová, Daniel Kumermann, Jiří Schneider
Chairman: Tomáš Pojar
18.30 Closing speech: Karel Schwarzenberg
20.00 Glass of beer, concert featuring the Czech band Garage and the Israeli group Malox (Vinohradský pivovar, Korunní 106, Prague 10)
Ralph Young: Dissent – The History of an American Idea
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 29, 2015, 18:00 – 20:00
At its founding the United States committed itself to lofty ideals. When these ideals were not fully realized, many protested and demanded that the United States live up to its promise.
Dr. Ralph Young, Professor of History at Temple University, will present his book Dissent: The History of an American Idea and will discuss history and the role dissent has played in shaping the United States.
The event is being held as a part of Allen Ginsberg Freedom Festival, in cooperation with the Departement of American Studies, Charles University.
Prague Odyssey – The Future of the City as a Common Mission II
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 30, 2015, 19:00 – 21:00
A discussion series on the future of Prague as a successful, safe, healthy and competitive 21st century city.
In cooperation with the Prague Institute of Planning and Development.
Havel Channel
Havel Channel je audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla, jehož cílem je šířit myšlenkový, literární a politický odkaz Václava Havla, bez ohledu na vzdálenost, zeměpisné hranice či nouzové stavy. Jeho páteř tvoří debaty, vzdělávací projekty a rozhovory. Velký prostor je věnován též konferencím, autorským čtením, záznamům divadelních inscenací a koncertům. Audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla Havel Channel se uskutečňuje díky laskavé podpoře Karel Komárek Family Foundation.
Publications / E-shop
The central focus of the Library’s publishing programme is the life and work of Václav Havel, his family and close collaborators and friends. For clarity, the programme is divided into six series: Václav Havel Library Notebooks, Václav Havel Library Editions, Student Line, Talks from Lány, Václav Havel Documents, Works of Pavel Juráček and Václav Havel Library Conferences. Titles that cannot be incorporated into any of the given series but which are nonetheless important for the Library’s publishing activities are issued independently, outside the series framework.
Diary IV. 1974–1989
399,- CZK
Foolish Writing
299,- CZK
Havel to the Castle
149,- CZK
Kilián Nedory
199,- CZK
Case for a Novice Headsman
199,- CZK
I am not sad. Audience & Vernissage
129,- CZK
To the Castle and Back
249,- CZK
I am the Gypsy Baron
299,- CZK
Conferences & prizes
Václav Havel European Dialogues
The Václav Havel European Dialogues is an international project that aims to initiate and stimulate a discussion about issues determining the direction of contemporary Europe while referring to the European spiritual legacy of Václav Havel. This idea takes its main inspiration from Václav Havel’s essay “Power of the Powerless”. More than other similarly focused projects, the Václav Havel European Dialogues aims to offer the “powerless” a platform to express themselves and in so doing to boost their position within Europe.
The Václav Havel European Dialogues is planned as a long-term project and involves cooperation with other organisations in various European cities. Individual meetings, which take the form of a conference, are targeted primarily at secondary and third-level students, as well as specialists and members of the public interested in European issues.
Prague 2022Olomouc Prague 2023PragueMnichov 2020Brussels 2020Prague 2019Brussels 2019Prague 2018Brussels 2018Europe at the Crossroads (e-book)Prague 2017Brussels 2017Prague 2016Brussels 2016Prague 2015Brussels 2015Brussels 2014Berlin 2014Prague 2014 - J. GauckBruges 2014Prague 2014
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation to reward outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.
11th Year of the Prize (2023)10th Year of the Prize (2022)9th Year of the Prize (2021)8th Year of the Prize (2020)7th Year of the Prize (2019)6th Year of the Prize (2018)5th Year of the Prize (2017)4th Year of the Prize (2016)3rd Year of the Prize (2015)2nd Year of the Prize (2014)1st Year of the Prize (2013)History of the prize
Havel - Albright Transatlantic Dialogues
Since the first Václav Havel Transatlantic Dialogues at GLOBSEC and FORUM 2000 conferences last year, we have lost another stalwart advocate of the transatlantic bond and of the need to face threats to democracy and international order together on both sides of the Atlantic, the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In view of the close bond between Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright and, after Havel's death, between the Secretary and the Library, the Václav Havel Library, with the approval of Madeleine Albright's family, renamed and rebranded the program as The Havel-Albright Transatlantic Dialogues (HATD), after the two major figures with roots in Central Europe who have personified the bond. Together, Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright symbolize the transatlantic relationship and the fundamental values underpinning it perhaps better than any other two people in recent history. The upcoming Dialogues “The Indispensable Woman: The Legacy of Madeleine K. Albright”, at the FORUM 2000 conference on September 1, and at the “Havel and our Crisis” conference at Colby College, ME, on September 28, will thus become venues for a well-deserved tribute to the pair we all respected and admired.
Transatlantic Dialogues 2021Transatlantic Dialogues 2022HATD 2022 Prague
Václav Havel
Educational projects
Archive / Documentation centre / Research projects
The Václav Havel Library is gradually gathering, digitizing, and making accessible written materials, photographs, sound recordings and other materials linked to the person of Václav Havel.
- 71004 records in total
- 27933 of events in the VH's life
- 2831 of VH's texts
- 2125 of photos
- 403of videos
- 568of audios
- 6604of letters
- 15101of texts about VH
- 8269 of books
- 40721of bibliography records
Access to the database of the VHL’s archives is free and possible after registering as a user. Accessing archival materials that exist in an unreadable form is only possible at the reading room of the Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, 110 00 Prague 1, every Tuesday (except state holidays) from 9:00 to 17:00, or by prior appointment.
We will be glad to answer your queries at archiv@vaclavhavel-library.org.
Havel in a nutshell
The virtual exhibition Václav Havel in a Nutshell places the life story of Václav Havel in the broader cultural and historic context in four chronologically distinct chapters with rich visual accompaniment. The exhibition is supplemented by the interactive map Flying the World with Václav Havel, which captures in physical form Havel’s global “footprint”.
Vladimir Hanzel's revolution
Collage of recollections, images and sound recordings from Vladimír Hanzel, President Václav Havel’s personal secretary, bringing the feverish atmosphere of the Velvet Revolution to life.
Václav Havel Interviews
A database of all accessible interviews given to print media outlets by the dramatist, writer and political activist Václav Havel between the 1960s and 1989. The resulting collection documents the extraordinary life story of an individual, as well as capturing a specific picture of modern Czechoslovak history at a time when being a free-thinker was more likely to lead to jail than an official public post.
Pavel Juráček Archive
The Pavel Juráček Archive arose in February 2014 when his son Marek Juráček handed over six banana boxes and a typewriter case from his father’s estate to the Václav Havel Library. Thousands of pages of manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, documents and personal and official correspondence are gradually being classified and digitalised. The result of this work should be not only to map the life and work of one of the key figures of the New Wave of Czechoslovak film in the 1960s, but also to make his literary works accessible in the book series The Works of Pavel Juráček.
The aim of the Václav Havel Library is to ensure that Pavel Juráček finds a place in the broader cultural consciousness and to notionally build on the deep friendship he shared with Václav Havel. Soon after Juráček’s death in 1989 Havel said of him: “Pavel was a friend of mine whom I liked very much. He was one of the most sensitive and gentle people I have known – that’s why I cannot write more about him.”
All about Library
Podpořte nás
We are well aware that freedom and democracy must be nurtured. Here at Ostrovní 13, but also on the audiovisual platform Havel Channel, we strive to do so through our own educational programmes, talks, discussion meetings, books, exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances. We honour Václav Havel's legacy and wish that the Library be a living organism and open to all. That is why our programme is free of charge for everyone. This would not be possible without regular financial support from our supporters. Become one of them...
Support us with a financial donation
Does our work make sense to you and do you want to support the activities of the Vaclav Havel Library?
You can easily make a one-time payment by scanning the QR code.
Would you like to contribute regularly? Then we invite you to become a member of the Friends of the Vaclav Havel Library Club. What are the benefits of membership? Find out more.
Help us expand the archive
The Vaclav Havel Library manages an archive of writings, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Vaclav Havel. This archive is predominantly in digital form. If you or someone close to you owns any original texts, correspondence, photographs, speeches or any other work by Vaclav Havel, we would be grateful if you could contact us.
You can donate in other ways too
Supporting a specific charitable or public benefit organization whose activities you appreciate or have been supporting for a long time is also possible through a will. This form of donation is quite common abroad, but in the Czech Republic this tradition is only just taking root.
Share information about us
The Vaclav Havel Library is open to media and promotional cooperation, mutual sharing of links, publishing our banners or information about our events.
For more information, please contact us.
Donations have their rules
At the Vaclav Havel Library, we uphold a transparent, responsible and ethical way of dealing with all those who contribute to fulfilling our purpose and implementing our strategy. Our code of ethics summarizes the basic rules of donations.
Get involved in volunteering
Would you like to get involved as a volunteer? That's great. We welcome anyone who wants to help our work.
