thomil13FRA From Germany, joined Jul 2010, 80 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 5 months 1 week 1 day ago) and read 1288 times:
BBC and other news outlets are reporting that Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, and a key figure of the movement for democracy in the Czech Republic and Central Europe, has died at age 75.
kaitak From Ireland, joined Aug 1999, 11956 posts, RR: 37 Reply 3, posted (1 year 5 months 1 week 22 hours ago) and read 1232 times:
A very great man; a true hero of his country, but also the rest of Europe as well. He was not just a playwright, but a philosopher as well and many of his sayings and speeches are counted among the best in recent history.
He will be sorely missed and I hope that he is honoured by his people and the wider European community the way he deserves to be.
GDB From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 12715 posts, RR: 80 Reply 6, posted (1 year 5 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 1156 times:
Eastern Europe's George Orwell, was pivotal in the ending the rule of one of the nastier Warsaw Pact regimes and did so without firing a shot .
Sane free thinking guardians of true freedom are not having a good week what with Christopher Hitchens death.
To survive the mental torture of the regime, to galvanise opposition, to then become leader of his country were great achievements.
Tinged with his inability to prevent his beloved Czechoslovakia from splitting, which however painful for him, was also a result of free will and probably could not have been prevented by anyone else.
MEA-707 From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4117 posts, RR: 37 Reply 8, posted (1 year 5 months 1 week 14 hours ago) and read 1111 times:
One of the true hero's of the past century, a humble man. The world will miss him.
It's a bit shocking that this thread gets less visitors and reaction then a Lindsey Lohan thread.
nobody has ever died from hard work, but why take the risk?
prebennorholm From Denmark, joined Mar 2000, 6019 posts, RR: 55 Reply 11, posted (1 year 5 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 1070 times:
I was in Prague on a Sunday in late February 1990 when Vaclav Havel was giving a speech from the balcony of the castle before going to Moscow on Monday morning for negotiations with Gorbachev. No, I wasn't at the castle, that wasn't possible. But I have never seen so many happy people as in Prague on that Sunday.
Shortly later I read one of his plays as a book. Then I realized why the east European dictators had to put him behind bars. Havel was a really exceptional man.
He was hardly a prototype of a modern politician who could deal efficiently with priorities in budget forecasts and such. But he was exactly the right catalyst needed to make all the various new and inexperienced people in power work together for the benefit of the country instead of "fighting" their individual goals.
It was likely a disappointment for him that he couldn't keep his country together. But I think that he also saw the benefits of the split. Czechoslovakia was in fact a rather artificial construction, an area which was somewhat "left over" following the breakup on the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI, and in fact it existed as an independent country only for 20 years from 1918 to 1938. Instead of continued internal quarrel the two countries can now live their own lives and be extremely good friends.
Havel was likely the master of the club of people such as Lech Walesa of Poland and Lennart Meri, Estonia, etc. Barely a handful of people who together shaped an immensely "happy end" to the most troubled century ever experienced in Europe, the 20th century.
Always keep your number of landings equal to your number of take-offs, Preben Norholm
L410Turbolet From Czech Republic, joined May 2004, 5394 posts, RR: 19 Reply 14, posted (1 year 5 months 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 950 times:
Sad news indeed, although not exactly unexpected because Mr. Havel looked visibly frail and unwell during his last public appearance last week when he met with Dalai Lama.
I believe that his fate will follow that of many other significant politicians of the late 1980s/early 1990s that their legacy will be appreciated more abroad than at home.
I was quite impressed and moved by the amount of people all over the coutntry who spontaneously gathered to lit up a candle and to pay a silent tribute to Mr. Havel. http://www.lidovky.cz/foto.asp?foto1...ea19_DWC17_CZECH_HAVEL_1218_11.JPG http://www.lidovky.cz/foto.asp?foto1=SK3fea79_p201112180643301.jpg
Quoting prebennorholm (Reply 11): Czechoslovakia was in fact a rather artificial construction, an area which was somewhat "left over" following the breakup on the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI, and in fact it existed as an independent country only for 20 years from 1918 to 1938.
With retrospect of almost 20 years some of the Czech-Slovak quarrels from the early 1990s seem futile and pointless, however the split turned out to be a win-win situation for both nations and a great catalyst towards improvement in mutual relations (official and unofficial) between the two nations which are now far better than they were during federation.
slider From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 6518 posts, RR: 37 Reply 15, posted (1 year 5 months 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 900 times:
Quoting MEA-707 (Reply 8): It's a bit shocking that this thread gets less visitors and reaction then a Lindsey Lohan thread
True....he was a magnificent man. I remain most impressed that it is the Eastern European nations and folks that emerged from the Iron Curtain that have the greatest animation for freedom. It is the Czechs who have been so vigorous in their quest for liberty, to stop communism, and move the argument for free societies forward. Havel was a giant in this regard, who proved that slow, steady pressure can indeed move mountains.
FatmirJusufi From Albania, joined Jan 2009, 2410 posts, RR: 7 Reply 16, posted (1 year 5 months 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 890 times:
It is really sad that a very great man, wise politician and one of the greatest statesmen of Europe passed away. He served devoutly to his country and his people. Besides, I will always remember him as one of the greatest supporters of Kosovo's cause.
Gunsontheroof From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 3462 posts, RR: 11 Reply 20, posted (1 year 5 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 815 times:
Really surprised by the relative lack of replies to this thread. Pretty much every European I've ever met held Mr. Havel in high-regard and I do as well. Truly a remarkable man, all the best to his family and friends. R.I.P.
He in a way was THE successor-in.-spirit of Willy Brandt, another giant of European history. Sure,
Willy Brandt was a professional politician which makes a difference but there are quite many
similarities between these two unforgettable gentemen
Checo77 From Peru, joined Oct 2004, 1345 posts, RR: 9 Reply 22, posted (1 year 5 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 788 times:
Friday is President´s Havel funeral in Prague. A mass will be held at the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague castle in his honor.
Among confirmed statesman are Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron, Lech Walesa, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Jose Barroso, Ivan Gasparovic, Iveta Radicova, the presidents of Slovenia, Estonia, the prince of the Netherlands, amongst others.
I am sad that I cannot be in Prague in this moment, I will held my respects to the man that led my country and others to freedom from Lima.
Bill Clinton with a "stony" face. I remember that he on a visit to Prague together with Vaclav Havel visited the favourite pubs of V.H. and went with him to a Jazz club to play Jazz. Had the impression that the two gents were on the same wavelengths. And I guess that they met in private after that again. Yes indeed, getting older means that increasingly, people "around you" start to pass away one by one.
Babybus From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 3514 posts, RR: 6 Reply 24, posted (1 year 5 months 2 days ago) and read 698 times:
He seemed to have a Roman Catholic funeral but I was not aware he was a Roman Catholic.
Religion did not find a renaissance under his office and the Pope referred to Czech as the black heart of Europe.
I don't like contradictions. That's the truth.
and with that..cabin crew, seats for landing please.
25 klaus: Being a decent human being has absolutely nothing to do with being religious (in some cases they are even in conflict).
26 L410Turbolet: The aviation angle fo the funeral was quite interesting and and told an interesting story about the passengers if one read in between the lines... Gue
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