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Fulbright Association
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Czech Republic President Václav Havel Receives 1997 J. William Fulbright Prize For International Understanding

The Fulbright Association awarded the 1997 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding to Václav Havel, president of the Czech Republic on Oct. 3, 1997 at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State. The prize, which carries a $50,000 cash award, is made possible by a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation.
"In the long process of ending communist rule and ushering in democracy in his country, Václav Havel has promoted liberty and human dignity worldwide," said The Honorable James T. Laney, former U.S. ambassador to Korea and chairman of the international prize selection committee convened by the Fulbright Association. "Scholar, diplomat, and leader of his country, Václav Havel is a man of great courage and vision. His eloquence and his utter fearlessness gave hope to millions in a time of despair."
The Fulbright Association created the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding in 1993 to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures, or nations to greater understanding of others. The prize was awarded to South African President Nelson Mandela in 1993, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1994, former Austrian Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1995, and former Philippines President Corazon C. Aquino in 1996.
"President Havel has become a symbol of the vast human potential for positive transformation of societies," said Dr. Philip O. Geier, president of the Fulbright Association’s Board of Directors and president of Armand Hammer United World College. "Over recent years, he has unleashed the momentum of democracy to improve the well-being of the Czech Republic and its citizens, defending human rights, strengthening the economy, and most recently, promoting NATO expansion to include the Czech Republic."
For nearly two decades, playwright Václav Havel rallied public support for democracy and social change in Czechoslovakia. He wrote open letters to the government, centered his literary works on civil society and liberty, and created a human rights manifesto called Charter 77. In 1989, Mr. Havel was unanimously elected spokesman of the Civic Forum opposition movement, which brought about the end of communist rule in the country. Mr. Havel’s leadership of the peaceful 1989 "Velvet Revolution" resulted in the rise of democracy.
On December 29, 1989, Václav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia. In 1990, he was re-elected president by the new Parliament, but resigned the position in 1992 when it became clear Czechoslovakia would be split. He became the first president of the Czech Republic on January 26, 1993.
Serving on the committee that selected President Havel for the 1997 Fulbright Prize were Ambassador James T. Laney; Dr. Anton Amon, a Fulbright Association director and senior vice president of The Coca-Cola Company; Minister Gudmund Hernes, Minister of Health, Norway; The Honorable Géza Jeszenszky, member of the Hungarian parliament and president, Hungarian Atlantic Council; and Sir Ronald Wilson, president, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia. Dr. Amon, Minister Hernes, Dr. Jeszenszky, and Sir Ronald Wilson are all past recipients of Fulbright awards.
Václav Havel was born in Prague on October 5, 1936. After studying at the Czech Technical University and serving two years of compulsory military service, he studied drama and graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in 1967. A prolific playwright and author, President Havel has published more than 20 literary works which have been performed around the world. He has received 14 honorary degrees from universities in eight countries, among many other awards for both his literary and political accomplishments.
The Fulbright Association is a private, non-profit organization that supports and promotes the Fulbright Program, the international educational and cultural exchange initiative created in 1946 through legislation sponsored by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Association also runs educational and cultural programs for foreign Fulbright scholars during their U.S. stay, linking them with U.S. Fulbright alumni. There are 29 local chapters of the Fulbright Association in the United States. The Association also collaborates with more than 50 Fulbright alumni organizations in other countries.
Since 1949, there have been more than 200,000 participants in the Fulbright Program throughout the world. Fulbright exchanges with Czechoslovakia began in the late 1970s. Since then, approximately 270 Czech citizens have studied in the United States through the Fulbright Program and more than 200 scholars from the United States have studied in the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia on Fulbright grants.
This year, the Fulbright Association celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding and the fifth anniversary of the Fulbright Prize.
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