Statue of Vaclav Havel Erected in Tbilisi

A statue of the first Czech President Vaclav Havel was erected in the renovated park of Vake District Administration in Tbilisi on June 22. The statue was unveiled by the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili and Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky, who is paying his first official visit to Georgia. The president thanked the people who contributed in erecting the statue of Czech public figure in Tbilisi. Margvelashvili said that the erection of a statue is an important message for Georgians and stressed that the values that Havel fought for are still important.

“Havel's monument is a wonderful message for Georgian youth that politics is their business, they should act honestly in politics and that politics are actually based on values,” he stressed.

The sculptor of the statue is Jumber Jikia, who won the contest announced earlier by Tbilisi City Hall.

Vaclav Havel (1936 –2011) was a Czech writer, philosopher, political dissident, and politician who served as the 1st President of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. Havel's political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, civil activism, and direct democracy. Vaclav Havel is considered to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.

Thea Morrison