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 2017<>
entry-free
On the Roots of the Questioning of Liberal Democracy
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 4, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Criticism of human rights – the genealogy of democratic scepticism.
Human rights, the cornerstone of modern liberal democracy, are increasingly subject to open criticism and questioning. In this discussion the Belgian political scientist Justine Lacroix and the philosopher Jean-Yves Pranchère from Luxembourg will explore the roots of contemporary criticism of human rights. The two will consider opinions and ideas from anti-revolutionary thinkers in the French Revolution era, such as Joseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald, to contemporary political scientists and philosophers, including Marcel Gauchet and Régis Debray.
Philosopher Jean-Yves Pranchère teaches at the Université libre de Bruxelles, the same university as the political scientist Justine Lacroix. In 2016 the pair brought out a book on perceptions of human rights and the understanding of their political significance entitled Le procès des droits de l'homme – Généalogie du scepticisme démocratique (Human Rights on Trial – The Genealogy of Democratic Scepticism) (published by Seuil).
Chaired by Alexandre Pajon.
In cooperation with the French Institute in Prague and the embassies of Luxembourg and Belgium. The debate will take place in French with simultaneous interpretation provided.
Václav Havel: Protest
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 6, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
To sign or not to sign? This was a fiendish question that the writers of dramatic works frequently faced. This lesser known one-act Vaněk play from 1978 on a still topical issue will be performed by Havel’s “court” theatre, Divadlo na tahu; it has been staging his plays since 1975 when it put on a “scandalous” production of The Beggar’s Opera in Horní Počernice.
Directed by Andrej Krob and featuring Karel Beseda and Radek Bár.
Karel Hvížďala: A Long-Dead Granddad
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 10, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Karel Hvížďala’s second book of essays Dávno Mrtvý Dědeček (A Long-Dead Granddad) loosely follows on from his previous Osmý den týdne (Eighth Day of the Week). Within its pages major figures of Czech society in the 20th century come to life: painters Jan Zrzavý and Antonín Pelc, novelist Viktor Fischl, cartoonist Vladimír Jiránek, photographers Oldřich Škácha and Josef Koudelka and man of the theatre and poet Jiří Suchý.
Once again Hvížďala has not written a memoir in the true sense of that word; rather the past inspires him to a critical view of the present.
The book will be introduced by Petr Fischer. Jiří Lábus will read excerpts while Oldřich Kaiser and Dáša Vokatá will perform.
Debate with Respekt
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 11, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Discussion with Respekt editors and their guests on a topical issue. More information will be posted at least one week before the event at www.vaclavhavel-library.org.
Miloš Bondy: What the Smoke Blew Away, or How I Survived the Holocaust
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 12, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Today aged 93, doctor Miloš Bondy came from a Prague Jewish family. In WWII he was sent with his whole family on a transport to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps, where both his parents perished. Miloš Bondy survived selection for the gas chambers, monstrous medical experiments and spells at other camps (Sachsenhausen, Ohrdruf and Buchenwald). Following a death march he was liberated at Eisenach in Germany.
Now his memoirs are coming in book form as Co odvál dým (What the Smoke Blew Away), the story of a man who was not broken by even the cruellest conditions. The author captures a great many specific details regarding the workings of the camps, the stories of a number of fellow prisoners and camp hierarchy. He presents his testimony in an original, vibrant and in places unexpectedly humorous manner.
Appearing alongside Miloš Bondy will be documentary maker Olga Sommerová, publisher Aleš Lederer and literary editor Petra Švehlová.
Denisa Novotná will host the gathering.
In cooperation with the PROSTOR publishing house.
Haytarma
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 13, 2017, 18:00 – 21:00
The story of the Tatars in director Achtem Seytabaev’s film.
A hero of the Soviet Union, the pilot Ahmetan Sultan, returns from the war to his home city, straight into a vortex of violence. His fate and that of his nearest and dearest was a foretaste of the terrible fate of the entire nation.
Ahead of the screening the Golden Accordionist, Tatar musician Server Abkerimov, will perform.
A discussion with Achtem Seytabaev on the history and present of Crimea will follow the film.
Film screened with English titles. Interpretation of discussion provided.
In cooperation with KITAP, the Tatar Association in Prague.
Gabina
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 18, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
An evening with photographer Gabina Fárová.
Even during her career as a photo (Saudek, Stano) and catwalk model, Gabina took photos of urban carousing and her companions from the rather juvenile, Bohemian circle surrounding the underground magazines Violit and Revolver, many of whom became established artists (Kremlička, Socha, Karlík, Landovská…). In the 1990s Gabina focused at the Radost photographic agency, which she cofounded, on the underside of that heady period, for instance in her pictures of Valdice prisoners. Her current portrait photographs and nudes, drawing on the beauty of the feminine form, are gems of classic black and white photography.
During a projection of both new and now virtually historic pictures, Gabina will discuss her life and work with Jáchym Topol.
Staying Alive. A Souvislost Review Evening
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 19, 2017, 18:30 – 21:00
“A dead poet does not write. Whence the importance of remaining alive,” writes Houellebecq. The Souvislost review is focused on similar questions. Was the magazine alive in last year’s editions? Is its current form also alive? Or is it recycling its own tradition and merely surviving? Who should read Souvislost today, and why?
Its editors and special guests will look back at last year’s editions and more. Ivana Uhlířová will read from recently published pieces with the musical accompaniment of Dorota Barová and Marcel Bárta.
Hosted by editor-in-chief Martin Valášek.
The Fall into Europe – An Evening Marking the 80th Anniversary of Jiří Dienstbier’s Birth
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 20, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
A discussion focused on how the one-time journalist, stoker, Charter 77 signatory and political prisoner set about realising his dream of Europe as democratic Czechoslovakia’s first minister of foreign affairs.
On what would have been Jiří Dienstbier’s 80th birthday we have invited Magda Vášáryová, Luboš Dobrovský and Alexandr Vondra to the debating table. Chaired by Michael Žantovský.
Václav Jamek: In This World
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 24, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Reading by Václav Jamek, the bilingual poet, critic, essayist and translator from French who lives between two countries.
The evening will begin with last year’s publication of essays that appeared in Listy between 2005 and 2015 and were gathered in the volume Na onom světě se tomu budeme smát (We’ll Laugh at It In This World): “Without much realising it, I had evidently found myself at a kind of crossroads. And it was a crossroads of dead-end streets. The people had their chimeras, which I didn’t share, while Czech intellectuals had different chimeras, which I didn’t share either. I didn’t really have anywhere to go with my own chimera. The life before me was limited, and I didn’t feel I’d be invited anywhere…”
Vlasta Dufková will discuss Václav Jamek and his “non-existent companion” Eberhardt Hauptbahnhof with Jamek himself.
Islam and Philosophy
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 25, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
How to understand contemporary Islam? Relations between philosophy and Islam and the issue of how the philosophical and intellectual histories of Muslim countries are reflected in contemporary Muslim society will be discussed by the professors Ali Benmakhlouf and Eric Linn Ormsby.
The Moroccan philosopher Ali Benmakhlouf, who specializes in classical Arabic philosophy, works at Paris’s Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne, Sciences Po and Université Livre de Bruxelles. He is the chairman of the Advisory Committee for Deontology and Ethics at the Institute for Development Research, is vice-president of the National Ethics Committee and is a member of international philosophical institutions, such as the Diderot Institute. He has many publications to his name and entered the consciousness of the Francophone public thanks in particular to his essay Pourquoi lire les philosophes arabes (Why Read Arab Philosophers), about Arab philosophers who influenced the intellectual development of European civilisation but have been forgotten.
Eric Linn Ormsby is an academic, translator, poet and writer. For many years he was library director and professor at the Institute of Islamic Studies at Montreal’s McGill University. He is currently a professor at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Among numerous other works focused on Islamic philosophy he has published Theodicy in Islamic Thought (Princeton University Press, 1984), Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts (New Series) in the Princeton University Library (1987) and Moses Maimonides and His Time (Washington, D.C., 1987). He has written many articles on Islamic theology and mysticism, has published five collections of poetry and translates classical Islamic philosophers (Al-Ghazali, Nasir Khusraw) and the works of the contemporary Iranian-born thinker Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezz
Organised in cooperation with the French Institute in Paris. Simultaneous interpretation provided.
Wittgenstein’s Book of Facts
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 26, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
Ladislav Čumba’s literary text explores with perspective the story of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. The son of a Kladno steelmaker, one of the richest people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose mother Poldi is still remembered by some residents of Kladno, he turned his back on that enormous wealth. He became a gardener and, after a colourful journey, a philosophy teacher at Cambridge.
This story of the Czech traces in the family and life of the philosopher Wittgenstein is a testimony of the tenacity of both capitalists and writers, of intransigence and tolerance, of arts patronage and of the power of the spoken and written word. It also takes in eminent artists of the period, in many cases family friends. Names like Rilke, Trakl, Klimt, Brahms, Hindemith and Ravel.
This special programme, including many musical excerpts and the screening of period documentaries, is being held on the anniversary of Wittgenstein’s birth. Wittgensteinovu knihu faktů (Wittgenstein’s Book of Facts) will be presented by Milan Gelnar, head of publishers Argo, while author Ladislav Čumba will discuss the genesis of the text and actress Alžběta Kostrhunová will read excerpts.
Milena Jesenská: Crossroads
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 27, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
This extensive anthology of Milena Jesenská’s journalism from the period 1919–1939 entitled Křižovatky (Crossroads) will be introduced by Petr Pithart. Literary historian Marie Jirásková will discuss her editorial work on the publication, which took over four years, while family recollections will be shared by Prof. Anna Housková, granddaughter of Milena’s lifelong close friend Staša Jílovská.
Fedor Gál: Across Fences
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 28, 2017, 19:00 – 21:00
More than 10 years ago an email dialogue began between two men whose life stories could hardly appear more different. The sociologist, politician and dissident Fedor Gál, convinced that dialogue is necessary in all circumstances, corresponds with the National Socialist Matej, who remains in anonymity. What happens in the lives of the actors and how do their opinions and views shift across dozens of clicks of the “send” button? Ceremonial launch of unorthodox correspondence issued by the Větrné mlýny publishing house.
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
Václav Havel
* 5. 10. 1936 Praha
† 18. 12. 2011 Hrádeček u Trutnova
- spisovatel a dramatik, publicista a filozof
- jeden z trojice prvních mluvčích Charty 77
- vůdčí autorita československé společenské změny v listopadu 1989
- poslední prezident Československa a
- první prezident České republiky
- celoživotní zastánce lidských práv a svobod doma i ve světě.
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.
- 70140 records in total
- 27137 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
- 8255 of books
- 40246of 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.
Sign in (registered users only)
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
The Václav Havel Library works to preserve the legacy of Václav Havel, literary, theatrical and also political, in particular his struggle for freedom, democracy and the defence of human rights. It supports research and education on the life, values and times of Václav Havel as well as the enduring significance of his ideas for both the present and future.
The Václav Havel Library also strives to develop civil society and active civic life, serving as a platform for discussion on issues related to the support and defence of liberty and democracy, both in the Czech Republic and internationally.
The main aims of the Václav Havel Library include
- Organizing archival, archival-research, documentary, museum and library activities focused on the work of Vaclav Havel and documents or objects related to his activities, and carries out professional analysis of their influence on the life and self-reflection of society
- Serving, in a suitable manner, such as through exhibitions, the purpose of education and popularisation functions, thus presenting to the public the historical significance of the fight for human rights and freedoms in the totalitarian period and the formation of civil society during the establishment of democracy
- Organizing scientific research and publication activities in its areas of interest
Staňte se členy Klubu přátel Knihovny Václava Havla
We believe that we are succeeding in fulfilling the vision of Václav Havel, who, when he founded the Library, declared that it only makes sense as a living organism that occupies an unmissable place in the whole of public and political life. We see this as a commitment and inspiration for the future. We would like to use the footage of our hundreds of events in our own internet TV channel, expand our publication programme, develop more e-learning series, start organising workshops for teachers... But all this will require considerable financial resources. That's why we decided to turn to our visitors and supporters for support.
Pomozte nám inspirovat své okolí i Vy!
Přijdete se k nám a staňte se členem Klubu přátel Knihovny VH!
Přítel
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s organizací pravidelných akcí pro veřejnost.
Patron
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže rozvíjet náš ediční plán a publikační činnost
Partner
pro další informace
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s vývojem vzdělávacích miniserií, audivizuálních projektů, přípravou mezinárodních konferencí...
Support us
Financial donations
If you would like to support the work of the Václav Havel Library or its specific activities or projects by means of a financial donation you can do so via the VHL’s PayPal account
Or by bank transfer to:
ČSOB a. s., Na Poříčí 24, 115 20 Praha 1
- Crown account number 7077 7077 / 0300 CZK
- Euro account number 7755 7755 / 0300 EUR
- Dollar account number 7747 7747 / 0300 USD
If an individual makes a donation of over CZK 1,000, or if a company makes a donation of over CZK 2,000, in one calendar year we will create for you a donation contract confirming the amount of the donation involved; the donor can use this to reduce their tax base in compliance with the law on taxation. For more information, contact us.
Donors with US citizenship can support us through the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation New York.
Donations and loans to the VHL archive
The Václav Havel Library administers an archive of written materials, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Václav Havel. The archive is predominantly digital in form. If you or somebody close to you is the owner of original texts, photographs, speeches or other works produced by Václav Havel we would appreciate it greatly if you contacted us. We will oversee the digitalisation of these documents and place them in our digital archive. If you would like to keep possession of such documents or items, we will return them in perfect condition.
If a copy or original is donated to the Václav Havel Library, the terms of donation and use will in all cases be agreed with the owner. The names of all donors or owners will be listed alongside the documentary materials in question.
Internships
We offer short and long-term internships at the Václav Havel Library to Czech and foreign students. Interns are particularly welcomed in the fields of library studies and archival science, arts management, journalism, Czech Studies and other areas of the humanities.
We welcome knowledge of English (German and French are also a plus), while knowledge of Czech is an advantage for foreign interns.
Internships range in duration from six weeks to one year, while it is possible to agree on individual duration depending on the requirements of schools. On completion of the internship, the participant receives a certificate with an appraisal. Internships take place on the basis of prior agreement with applicants and dates must be agreed around two months in advance. Václav Havel Library internships are unpaid and we do not cover transport or accommodation costs.
If you are interested in an internship at the Václav Havel Library, contact us at the email address:
Media and promotion cooperation with the VHL
The Václav Havel Library welcomes the mutual exchange of links and the publication of our banners and information about our events. For more information, contact us directly.
Volunteers
The Václav Havel Library welcomes volunteers who would like to assist in our work.