poet

Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel, Czechoslovakia’s first president, also lived as an activist, poet, and playwright. Communist rule made Havel's life hard, including his education, but he prevailed, having attended university. Even into his adulthood, Havel faced political strife, having his plays banned from viewing and being harassed by the government due to his activism. Was the trouble worth it for the first post-Communism president?

Jiří Karásek: Czech Decadence Writer (1871-1951)

Jiří Karásek: Czech Decadence Writer (1871-1951)

Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic was a unique individual, whose name is even somewhat unique. He was fascinated with death as a child and the occult as an adult. He wrote poetry and critique, collected art and co-founded a magazine, the Moderni Revue. When homosexuality was illegal in Czechoslovakia, he was openly gay and was an activist in the LGBT community of the time.