Václav Havel was born in Prague on October 5, 1936.

He became one of the country’s leading intellectuals and a respected playwright. From an early age, he developed a deep interest in European literature and drama, which he pursued within the so-called “Class of ’36,” a literary circle of young writers opposed to what Havel described as the Soviet regime’s “cemetery peace.”

After the Prague Spring of 1968 and its violent suppression by Soviet troops, Havel emerged as a committed political activist and was soon branded an enemy of the state by the authorities in Prague, then a satellite of Moscow.

He was banned from working in the theatre and spent several years in prison. Throughout this period, he remained under constant surveillance by the Czechoslovak communist regime.

Havel became a central figure of the Velvet Revolution, a sustained, nonviolent uprising that brought down the communist regime through mass demonstrations over five weeks.

On December 29, 1989, he was elected president of Czechoslovakia. In June 1990, the country held its first free elections since the fall of communist rule.

During his presidency, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, a development Havel never fully accepted. In 2011, he also directed the film Odcházení, a screen adaptation of his earlier play Leaving.

With former French President Jacques Chirac, April 23, 1999 in Washington. (THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

With George W. Bush in Washington, September 18, 2002 (TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Vaclav Havel speaks to a crowd gathered in Wenceslas Square, Prague, December 10, 1989. (LUBOMIR KOTEK/AFP/Getty Images)

Havel at a rally in Prague, November 24, 1989. (LUBOMIR KOTEK-JOEL ROBINE/AFP/Getty Images)

Demonstrations in the streets as part of the Velvet Revolution, December 15, 1989. (LUBOMIR KOTEK/AFP/Getty Images)

Havel with Bill Clinton (PAUL RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

With Princess Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, Prague, May 1991. (Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

Berlin, 3 October 2009

Berlin, October 3, 2009

Vaclav Havel with Frank Zappa at Prague Castle, January 1990. (CTK Photo/Michal Krumphanzl, via AP Images)

Vaclav Havel with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones on the balcony of Prague Castle, August 1990. (CTK Photo/Michal Dolezal, via AP Images)

Vaclav Havel inspects the Czech guard of honor during his inauguration ceremony as president at Prague Castle, December 29, 1989. (CTK via AP Images)

Vaclav Havel signs the oath of office as president of the Czech Republic, December 29, 1989. (CTK via AP Images)

With John Paul II, April 25, 1997 (GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)