Vaclav Havel was a great champion of liberty whose rhetorical blows shattered the Iron Curtain and brought about the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe.

As a founder of Charter 77, as the leader of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution in 1989, and as the first president of that once hard-line communist satellite, Havel demonstrated over and over again the power of words to bring down seemingly invincible foes.

He was a special inspiration to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, one of the first foreign leaders to join our International Advisory Council. We were privileged to award him the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom in 2003.

His example and his words will continue to inspire us and all who are committed to the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples.
Lee Edwards
Chairman