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Atlantic Eye: Vaclav Havel's milestone

By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The Communists imprisoned him, but he would not bend. For the Czech and Slovak dissident movement, he was their iron will. Like Gandhi, he refused to use violence. He became the leader of the Velvet Revolution, the president of a free Czechoslovakia and later president of the Czech Republic.

I met Vaclav Havel during the days of the "underground university," the informal network which supported the dissident movement in Czech lands during the Communist era. I was a young courier carrying documents and other items out. But, like many during those years, I was a quiet soldier helping as I could. Havel would only recognize much later that he had met me.

The real heroes of those days are still around. Some, like Jiri Grusa, Martin Palous, Jan Ruml and Sasha Vondra, have become government ministers and ambassadors. Others, like Ivan Bohacek, Ivan Chvatik and Ivan Havel have remained in academia or the non-governmental organization sector; a small group, among them Pavel Bratinka, have moved into the private sector. Yet others could not manage the transition from anti-communist dissident to democrat and have simply faded away.

A great lady of that time, a mentor and dear friend, is Barbara Day. A London native who studied theatre, Day has spent nearly forty years associated with the Czech lands. Her accounts of the underground university in Czechoslovakia are meticulously recorded in her brilliant book "The Velvet Philosophers." A close friend of Vaclav Havel, her book recounts the great courage he and others showed in fighting a despicable and violent system. Havel would later reward her with the Presidential Medal of the Republic for her personal courage.

Day, now the senior fellow of the Prague Society, describes how Havel became the leader of the Velvet Revolution through the theatre. He never wanted to lead, at least not from the front. He saw -- and still sees -- himself as a playwright. Havel has always been uncomfortable with the public limelight. He is leader by default, a leader by accident, a man who would much prefer being behind the stage than on it. Havel is a shy man, with great passion and will.

I am reminded of a ceremony in 1998 at Magdalen College, Oxford -- one of my former hunting grounds. Havel was giving out Presidential Medals to the courageous British who had supported the underground university. Barbara Day, Jessica Douglas-Home, Alan Montefiore, Roger Scruton and others would be recognized. It was the first time I would be so close to Havel the president. He seemed so demure, slighter than I remember. Even in this private environment at the Magdalen President's Lodgings, with a small group he knew personally, Havel seemed uncomfortable in his role as statesman.

In 2003, Havel became the third recipient -- after Vladimir Ashkenazy and Madeleine Albright -- of the Prague Society's Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award. On stage with Nobel Laureate F.W. de Klerk, the Society's honorary chairman, and Secretary Albright, Havel seemed to want to get off the stage as fast as possible. Havel was happiest when he presented the financial portion of the award to the brave Belarus-based journalist Andrej Dinko -- the last remaining independent newspaper editor in Lukashenko's empire.

Havel's presidency, from 1989 to 2003, was marred domestically by Prime Minister Klaus's undermining of him and political infighting. Klaus, now the Czech President, is a self-aggrandizing sort -- jealous of Havel's international stature. Klaus and others would consistently attempt to block Havel's reforms of the post-communist political system. Havel never had the stomach to eliminate and side-line these and other political opponents. As Einstein once noted, "great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Like Gorbachev and de Klerk, Havel remains a widely respected international figure. While Gorbachev and de Klerk relinquished the reigns of power, Havel was hoisted into his position by a wave of peaceful protests. Havel was criticized for cohabitating with Marian Calfa, who had been a ranking politburo member and became free Czechoslovakia's first prime minister. But Havel never wanted to be a moralist; he did not want to be the judge of the past. He wanted to move forward. For this, he would lose many friends and fellow-travelers.

The Prague Society and Global Panel are honoring Havel's 70th birthday with a gala exhibition of his State Orders at the Morzin Palace. I am reminded that this shy man and great spirit should earn one more recognition for promoting democracy.

It is a recognition shared by Gorbachev and de Klerk.

It is the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some people are part of history. Vaclav Havel created it.

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(UPI Columnist Marc S. Ellenbogen is chairman of the Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague Society for International Cooperation. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the U.S. Democratic Party.)