Dec 19, 2011

News

NED President remembers Havel in Washington Post

NED President Carl Gershman discussed in The Washington Post the life and legacy of Vaclav Havel, the dissident and Czechoslovakian president who received the Endowment's Democracy Service Medal in 2007.

"More so than any of the prominent figures from the period of anti-communist dissent, Havel used his position, voice and moral authority to advance present-day struggles for freedom," Gershman wrote. "If he looked backward at all, it was only to find lessons from his own experience that might be useful for freedom-fighters today. Communicating those lessons, he once wrote to the Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, was a way of repaying a debt to those who helped him in his own time of need."

For the full obituary, visit The Washington Post :: more