“Copyrights and human rights”
On the one hand, today’s visit to former Czech president Vaclav Havel’s office was not at all what I expected. I hardly realized we had reached our destination when we stopped outside the ordinary, unassuming entrance to his office. Located on a quiet side street, the office was hardly what one might expect for a man revered in his country and around the world as one of the most influential intellectual and political personalities in modern times.
After being ushered inside by one of Havel’s three staffers (downsized from the 180 he had during his time in office), we were shown into Havel’s post-presidential suite. Aside from the courtyard with a weird, rather creepy angel statue, the place was rather cramped, consisting of only three small connected rooms. Unique modern art and artsy contemporary décor were the first thing to catch the eye: Abstract painting adorning the low, domed ceilings and walls. A rather odd statue of a figure wearing a brown hat, a flower jacket, and long golden hair. There were numerous photographs of the former president with famous dignitaries and celebrities — one humorous one showed Havel with Bill Clinton and Madeline Albright drinking merrily at a Czech bar.
At the center of the table in the middle “conference” room an engraved plate with the opening sentence of the U.S. Constitution was prominently displayed — a gift from President Obama to Havel during his recent visit to Prague.
Books lined the numerous shelves which formed the “walls” between the three rooms of the office, and the collection was very eclectic — several spines belied the former president’s love for The Velvet Underground. Much of the rest of the shelf space was taken up by numerous copies of Havel’s own prolific writings, both fiction and non-fiction.
This brings me to the other hand I mentioned at the beginning of this post; upon further review, the office we saw meshes perfectly with everything I know about Vaclav Havel. As his staff told us today, the man is unassuming, calm, modest – even shy – and precise. Those qualities, along with his obvious love for pop culture (especially rock music) were evident in his office. As a playwright, intellectual, activist, and reluctant politician, Vaclav Havel’s eccentricities were manifested in the office we saw today.
As I scanned the numerous books in his office, a thought occurred to me, something that kind of sums up the thing I like most about Havel — it must be nice, I sighed to myself, to have a president who has written books about subjects other than himself. We could use a bit more of that spirit in the U.S., if you ask me.
