Accessibility links

Breaking News

Vaclav Havel’s Ashes Buried In Prague


The coffin of former Czech President Vaclav Havel is displayed at St. Vitus Cathedral before the start of his funeral Mass in Prague on December 23.
The coffin of former Czech President Vaclav Havel is displayed at St. Vitus Cathedral before the start of his funeral Mass in Prague on December 23.
The urn carrying Vaclav Havel's ashes has been buried at his family plot at a cemetery in the Czech capital of Prague.

Havel was the dissident playwright who led the 1989 revolution that toppled four decades of communist rule before becoming the president of Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic.

He died December 18 at age 75.

Havel's widow Dagmar, his brother Ivan, and other family members and friends attended a private ceremony at Prague's Vinohrady cemetery.

The urn was placed to rest alongside his first wife, Olga, who died in 1996.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron were among the world leaders who attended Havel's state funeral on December 23.

compiled from agency reports

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG