The Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) installed a small archival exhibition entitled “Václav Havel – An artistic and political legacy for Europe” for the European University Institute’s (EUI) inauguration of the Václav Havel Room at Palazzo Buontalenti on 17 November 2025. The event, organised by the Florence School of Transnational Governance, offered multiple perspectives on the life and enduring relevance of the Czech playwright, dissident, and statesman.
For the display, the HAEU selected archival records illustrative of Havel’s public life between 1979 and 2007. The documents include items from the European Parliament fonds relating to the human rights situation in Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel's imprisonment, and the dissident human rights movement known as Charter 77 (named after the year it was created). There are also reflections on Havel's presidential years and press articles testifying to his political and cultural influence. Several of the showcased items, including a press dossier from the European Commission, are digitally accessible through the HAEU database.
Opened on International Students’ Day, the exhibition in Palazzo Buontalenti further reminds visitors of the long-standing links between student movements and democratic activism. To this end, the HAEU selected correspondence from the archives concerning Czechoslovak students on exchange in Florence in 1969, symbolically connecting the events of 1969 with today's academic community at the EUI.
Photographs by Havel’s official photographer, Karel Cudlín enrich the exhibition.
The showcases curated by Andreja Casar and Mattia Torelli, as well as the photographic display, may be viewed in the Václav Havel room until 1 December 2025.
Photo: Mattia Torelli, Karolina Klimiuk and Helena Marschall view the archival display in the Václav Havel room.