As a Czech (living in London), I remember Havel visiting London University after being elected president and being open-handed with his autograph to all of us attending. As a son of exiles from Communism, I knew I could come home at last.
I’m not in the least negative about the Czechoslovakia – later, sadly, only the Czech Republic; I believe, as he did, that the union with Slovakia was good for both countries – that he helped to create. “Tunnelling” and other forms of business corruption were unfortunate, but pretty near inevitable in the aftermath to the total lack of accountability that Communism engendered. Today it’s a country of free media, outspokenly expressed opinions, an astonishing degree of common sense in private life, and a strong sense of history and continuity. Even dealing with the bureaucracy leaves a favourable impression: the people behind the counter do require you to fill in all the forms, get this one registered in one office, that one in another – but they realize that it’s a big nuisance, and seem to want to help.
They seem to have reverted to the ways of pre-Communist, indeed pre-WW2, Czechoslovakia, as my my parents remembered it. If Havel’s mark is seen in this, then he counts in my book with Tomáš Masaryk, our founding president, as modernity’s second truly great Czech.
