Olga Havlová

Olga Havlová a adăugat o fotografie

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R.I.P
Olga

Olga Havlová (nee Šplíchalová; 11 July 1933 – 27 January 1996) was a Czech dissident, activist, and the first wife of Václav Havel, the last President of Czechoslovakia and first President of the Czech Republic. Havlová, the inaugural First Lady of the Czech Republic and final First Lady of Czechoslovakia, was the founder of the Committee of Good Will and a signatory of Charter 77.

Olga Havlová a adăugat o fotografie

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R.I.P
Olga

Early life Olga Havel was born in Žižkov, "one of the roughest, working-class districts of Prague", in a working-class family. She spent her childhood in a way typical for such a harsh environment. Her parents split up when she was six years old. In a large family, also including Olga's older sister Jaroslava's family (a single mother of five children), any free hand was useful. Therefore, it was obvious that Olga cared for her young nieces and nephews since her childhood. As a child, she also attended Milíčův dům (Milíč House in Prague) established by Přemysl Pitter. Olga used to spend a lot of time in libraries where she acquired her strong lifelong love of literature. Although her family's life was modest, Olga's mother used to take her children to cinema and theatre quite often. After graduation from secondary school, Olga became a trainee in the Tomáš Baťa factory, where she also worked afterward. In the course of working on a sewing machine, she lost four fingers on her left hand. When she was about twenty, she was an enthusiastic theatre lover and attended the drama classes of Professor Lydie Wegener. Together with her other pupils, she acted in an…Citește mai mult

Olga Havlová a lăsat un gând

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As a Czechoslovak dissident Following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 until the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Václav Havel could not publish openly in his home country. Theatres were not allowed to stage his plays and he was gradually pushed out of the public cultural activities and became one of the most prominent dissidents. As a fighter against continuously intensified totalitarian regime, he was persecuted by the secret police (Státní bezpečnost), he was often detained, interrogated and imprisoned. Olga Havel was always an important back up to her husband; she supported him in all his dissident activities and she was also involved in them. She was described as "full of forthright, even earthy common sense. A shrewd, intuitive judge of people, calm but tough, and with a natural dignity". After he was sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment, Olga Havel together with her brother-in-law Ivan Havel took over responsibilities and obligations in samizdat Edition Expedition, which was led by Václav before. In relation to the prosecution for transporting prohibited printed material, she was accused of subversion of a republic in the case of "Karavan". Her prosecution was abolished after the fall of the Communist…Citește mai mult

Olga Havlová a lăsat un gând

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After November 1989 Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation As the wife of the first Czechoslovak democratic president after February 1948, Olga Havel intensively focused on charitable activities. In the era of newly emerging democracy, she was a pioneer of charity in the country. In early 1990, she and her friends from Charter 77 founded the Committee of Good Will, one of the first projects of this kind in Czechoslovakia. In 1992, she founded the Olga Havel Foundation and members of the Committee of Good Will became board members of the foundation with Olga as the chair. The main objective of the Committee of Good Will - Olga Havel Foundation (OHF) was to help people with disabilities, abandoned or discriminated against, with their integration into society. The Foundation activities soon became well known abroad. In some countries in Europe and overseas, sister organizations were established to support the main goals of the Foundation. Olga Havel visited emerging centres for children with multiple disabilities to inquire what could make their life easier. She was often seen among senior citizens and children with disabilities. She was interested in transformation of hospitals into nonprofit, non-governmental organizations and urged ministers to support…Citește mai mult

Olga Havlová a lăsat un gând

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Olga Havel Award On the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the OHF, Olga decided to present an award to a person with a disability who helped to improve living conditions of other disabled people. This prize is awarded annually in May. Olga attended just the first awards ceremony - she died in January 1996. The prize, a statue called Encouragement by Olbram Zoubek, thus also became a remembrance of a person who had always been an advocate for the rights of vulnerable citizens. One part of the Olga Havel Award project is to promote civic associations providing social and medical services in a dignified way, and using new forms of social services. For the OHF, the ceremony is also an opportunity to pay tribute to its significant donors and collaborators.

Olga Havlová a lăsat un gând

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Last years and death In 1991, Nordic foundation Stiftelsen Arets Budeje awarded Olga Havel the prestigious prize Woman of the Year 1991. In 1995, she received the Přemysl Pitter medal and became Woman of the Year 1995 in the Czech Republic. Olga Havel dedicated the last years of her life to tireless building of civil society. In 1995, Olga was according to the public survey the most significant woman of the Czech Republic and she became an authority even abroad. Thanks to her the issue of handicapped people stopped being an "indecent topic". Olga Havel died of cancer on 27 January 1996. Her death deeply hit the entire nation. People stood in a long queue to honour her, laid flowers in the chapel at the south wing of Prague Castle, and signed a condolence book. She is buried in the Havel family tomb at Prague's Vinohrady Cemetery. In 1997, Olga Havel was in memoriam awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk for outstanding contribution to democracy and human rights. Since 1996, based on approval of the President Václav Havel, secondary school in Ostrava-Poruba carries an honorary title – Olga Havel Gymnázium. In 2014, Business Academy, specialized school and practical school…Citește mai mult