Vaclav Havel (1936-2011)

Grayce Burian, friend of the Writers Institute, reminisced about her friend Vaclav Havel, Nobel Prize-winning playwright and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993-2003), who passed away this past Sunday, December 18th.

Grayce's husband, the late Jarka Burian-- longtime Professor in the the Department of Theatre at UAlbany and America's foremost authority on Czech theatre-- spent a great deal of time with Havel during two extended visits to Czechoslovakia in the 1960s when Havel was a young playwright and Jarka was a visiting scholar.

At SUNY Albany's Arena Summer Theatre, Jarka directed the first American performance of a play by Vaclav Havel, "The Memorandum," in 1966. The play was later performed at the Public Theater in New York City in 1968, where it received widespread international attention.

Grayce and Jarka were invited to meetings of the Czech underground during the Prague Spring prior to the Soviet invasion in 1968. Grayce recalled one meeting in Havel's apartment. In a hushed voice Havel asked Jarka not to speak and had him climb up a ladder to a chandelier where Havel showed him wires and a bugging device. Grayce said he wanted Jarka to know about the device not only for their safety, but also so that Jarka could write about the experience after his return to the United States.

Over the years, the Burians continued to receive letters from Havel thanking Jarka for his scholarly work on the history of the Czech theater. This correspondence is preserved in the Archives of the University at Albany Libraries.