Editing Václav Havel (section)

==Death==
[[File:Pietní shromáždění na Václavském náměstí při příležitosti úmrtí Václava Havla v roce 2011 (22).JPG|thumb|right|Memorial gathering of Václav Havel in [[Wenceslas Square]] in Prague on the day of his death on 18 December 2011]]
A week before his death, he met with his long-time friend, the [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]], in Prague;<ref>{{cite news|title=Dalai Lama pays 'friendly' visit to Prague|url=http://www.praguepost.com/news/11401-dalai-lama-pays-friendly-visit-to-prague.html|access-date=18 December 2011|newspaper=The Prague Post}}</ref> Havel appeared in a wheelchair.<ref name=BBC /> He died in the morning of 18 December 2011, at the age of 75, at his country home in [[Vlčice (Trutnov District)|Hrádeček]].<ref>{{cite news|first1=Dan|last1=Bilefsky|first2=Jane|last2=Perlez|title=Václav Havel, Former Czech President, Dies at 75|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/europe/vaclav-havel-dissident-playwright-who-led-czechoslovakia-dead-at-75.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|title=Václav Havel, Czech statesman and playwright, dies at 75|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16236393|website=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=18 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="NYRB_obit">{{cite journal |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/feb/09/vaclav-havel-1936-2011/|first=Paul|last=Wilson|title=Václav Havel (1936–2011)|date=9 February 2012 |journal=The New York Review of Books |volume=59 |issue=2 |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref>

[[Prime Minister of the Czech Republic|Prime Minister]] [[Petr Nečas]] announced a three-day mourning period from 21 to 23 December, the date announced by [[President of the Czech Republic|President]] [[Václav Klaus]] for the [[state funeral]]. The funeral Mass was held at [[Saint Vitus Cathedral]], celebrated by the Archbishop of Prague [[Dominik Duka]] and Havel's old friend Bishop [[Václav Malý]]. During the service, a [[21 gun salute]] was fired in the former president's honour, and in accordance with the family's request, a private ceremony followed at Prague's [[Strašnice Crematorium]]. Havel's ashes were placed in the family tomb in the [[Vinohrady Cemetery]] in Prague.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Václav Havel to be given state funeral and highest military honors|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/vaclav-havel-to-be-given-state-funeral-and-highest-military-honors|website=[[Radio Prague]]|date=20 December 2011 |access-date=21 December 2011}}</ref> On 23 December 2011, the [[Václav Havel Tribute Concert]] was held in Prague's [[Palác Lucerna]].<ref>{{Cite news|first1=Jana|last1=Záhorková|first2=Čeněk|last2=Třeček|title=Hudebníky napěchovaná Lucerna vzdala hold Havlovi, zazpívala i Vega a Král|url=https://kultura.zpravy.idnes.cz/zacina-vecirek-pro-havla-klani-se-lucerna-s-plastiky-a-kralem-pr2-/hudba.aspx?c=A111223_173136_hudba_jaz|newspaper=Mladá fronta Dnes|date=23 December 2011|language=cs}}</ref>

===Reactions===
[[File:Václav Havel 2014 Václavské náměstí.JPG|thumbnail|right|A large tapestry of Václav Havel with the caption ''Havel Forever'' was unveiled on [[Wenceslas Square]] on 17 November 2014, the 25th anniversary of the [[Velvet Revolution]].]]
[[File:VaclavHavelAirport.JPG|thumbnail|right|The international airport in [[Prague]] was renamed to [[Václav Havel Airport Prague]]]]
Within hours Havel's death was met with numerous tributes, including from U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], German Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] and former Polish President [[Lech Wałęsa]]. Merkel called Havel "a great European", while Wałęsa said he should have been given the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref name=BBC /><ref>{{cite news|title=World Reacts To Václav Havel's Death|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/world_reaction_to_havel_death/24425874.html|access-date=18 December 2011|newspaper=Radio Free Europe}}</ref> The Russian Embassy sent an official condolence on behalf of the President [[Dmitry Medvedev]] and Prime Minister [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{Cite web|first=Jan|last=Richter|title=Russian embassy says condolence on Václav Havel's death was sent to President Klaus|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/russian-embassy-says-condolence-on-vaclav-havels-death-was-sent-to-president-klaus|access-date=20 December 2011|newspaper=Radio Prague|date=20 December 2011 }}</ref> [[Slovakia]] declared 23 December a day of national mourning.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20042023/slovakia-declares-december-23-as-official-day-of-mourning-for-vaclav-havel.html | title=Slovakia declares December 23 as official day of mourning for Václav Havel|website=[[The Slovak Spectator]]|date=20 December 2011}}</ref>

At the news of his death, former U.S. Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]], a native of Czechoslovakia, said, "He was one of the great figures of the 20th Century", while Czech expatriate novelist [[Milan Kundera]] said: "Václav Havel's most important work is his own life."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,804614,00.html|url-status=live|title=A Continent Mourns the Passing of Vaclav Havel|newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]|access-date=18 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220172408/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,804614,00.html|archive-date=20 December 2011}}</ref> Leader of [[Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia]], [[Vojtěch Filip]], stated that Havel was a very controversial person and that his words often conflicted with his deeds. He criticized Havel for having supported the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]], repeating the charge that Havel had called the event a "humanitarian bombing",<ref>{{Cite news|title=Czech politicians express sorrow over Václav Havel's death|url=http://praguemonitor.com/2011/12/19/czech-politicians-express-sorrow-over-v%C3%A1clav-havels-death|url-status=dead|newspaper=Prague Daily Monitor|date=19 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510062142/http://praguemonitor.com/2011/12/19/czech-politicians-express-sorrow-over-v%C3%A1clav-havels-death|archive-date=10 May 2012}}</ref> although Havel had expressly and emphatically denied ever using such a phrase.<ref>Václav Havel, K Falbrově lži, ''[[Mladá fronta Dnes]]'' 24 May 2004: ''Obskurní pojem "humanitární bombardování" jsem samozřejmě nejen nevymyslel, ale nikdy ani nepoužil a použít nemohl, neboť mám – troufám si tvrdit – vkus.'' {{In lang|cs}}</ref>

An online petition organized by one of the best-known Czech and Slovak film directors, [[Fero Fenič]], calling on the government and the Parliament to rename [[Prague Ruzyně Airport]] to Václav Havel International Airport attracted—in a week after 20 December 2011—support of over 80,000 Czech Republic and foreign signatories.<ref>{{cite news|title=Petition to name the Prague – Ruzyne airport Václav Havel International Airport|url=http://vaclavhavelairport.com/|website=Václav Havel International Airport|access-date=27 December 2011}}</ref> It was announced that the airport would be renamed the Václav Havel Airport Prague on 5 October 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Christian|last=Falvey|title=Government renames airport after Havel, but botches translation|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/government-renames-airport-after-havel-but-botches-translation|website=Radio Prague|date=22 March 2012|access-date=19 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaclavhavelairport.com/|title=Letiště Václava Havla|website=Václav Havel International Airport|access-date=19 November 2023}}</ref>

Reviewing a new biography by [[Michael Žantovský]], Yale historian Marci Shore summarized his challenges as president: "Havel's message, 'We are all responsible, we are all guilty,' was not popular. He enacted a general amnesty for all but the most serious criminals, apologized on behalf of Czechoslovakia for the post-World War II expulsion of the Sudeten Germans and resisted demands for a more draconian purge of secret police collaborators. These things were not popular either. And as the government undertook privatization and restitution, Havel confronted pyramid schemes, financial corruption and robber baron capitalism. He saw his country fall apart (if bloodlessly), becoming in 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shore|first=Marci|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/books/review/havel-a-life-by-michael-zantovsky.html|title='Havel: A Life,' by Michael Zantovsky|newspaper=The New York Times|date=26 December 2014|access-date=17 March 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>