Playwright Vaclav Havel Has Died

Playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel has died after a long illness, according to published reports. He was 75.

Havel’s many plays include his Obie Award-winning The Memorandum, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, and A Private View, as well as The Garden Party, Largo Desolato, Temptation, and Leaving.

Havel’s criticism of the Soviet leadership of his country and others in the Soviet bloc led to his plays being banned in Czechoslovakia and to multiple imprisonments and ongoing surveillance. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Havel was elected to the presidency of the country.