(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT

Vaclav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic, died this weekend at the age of 75. An iconic figure -- Havel was a playwright and dissident who helped end Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.

Here’s RTE News with more.

“Mr. Havel became the country’s first democratically-elected president after the 1989 non-violent Velvet Revolution ended four decades of repression. He oversaw the country’s transition to democracy and a free-market economy, as well as the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993.”

Havel’s journey began in the theater. He wrote plays ridiculing life under Communism, and his work was banned by the Communist government. He continued to write, circulating dissident and anti-communist essays, like his famous work “The Power and the Powerless.”

When young people began marching against Communist rule, they used Havel’s name as a rallying cry. In the winter of 1989, weeks after the Berlin Wall came down, Havel greeted the crowds from Prague Castle as the first president of Czechoslovakia. (Video source: Channel 4)

He carried a whimsical sense of humor into the presidency, often seen whizzing through the castle on a child’s scooter. It was a stark contrast to the gloomy former regime. But he took his political duties seriously.

CNN praises him for his work during the breakup of Czechoslovakia.

“He oversaw the fact that that separation from Slovakia was a peaceful one at a time when the war in Bosnia was brewing and leaders who sought political power led their countries into death and chaos.”

After leaving office, Havel remained an advocate for human rights. He received many awards, including the International Ghandi Peace Prize, the Olof Palme Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as several Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

An editor for the Czech News Agency explained to Sky News how important Havel was to the Czech people.

“It’s still a shock. You can see a lot of people crying in our news desk, also, so it’s [a] very sad moment. He was maybe the best and the biggest Czech ever, maybe for like 100 years, so... He brought the Communist regime down, so this is the best [of] what he did.”

A black flag was flown over Prague Castle to mourn his passing, and a Vaclav Havel library is currently under construction.