On Monday 5 October, together with many others across the Czech Republic, the English College in Prague gathered to remember Václav Havel. Not only was he the first democratic President of Czechoslovakia, he was also ECP’s first Founder Patron. In fact, it was Havel who personally invited the then HRH Prince Charles to join him in supporting our school.
To mark what would have been Havel’s 90th birthday, we held a special ceremony to unveil striking black-and-white photographic portraits of our three Patrons. Pride of place naturally belonged to Václav Havel, as we celebrated what would have been his 90th birthday.
Shared Values: Responsibility, Humanity, Freedom, and Honesty
The event provided an opportunity to reflect on the lasting contribution of all three Patrons to the values and spirit of the English College. Headmaster Dr Nigel Brown spoke about four core qualities they all shared: responsibility, humanity, freedom, and honesty. These values remain central to our ethos at ECP, guiding us as both individuals and as a school community.
Speech by Dr Barbara Day MBE
VH@90 Dr Barbara Day MBE 5.10.2026
To pay special tribute to Václav Havel, we were delighted to welcome back into school former ECP Governor Dr Barbara Day MBE.
Her fascinating speech held the audience spellbound – you could have heard a pin drop – as she recounted her personal encounters with Havel and offered a remarkable glimpse into a very different era of Czech history.
Dr Day first met Havel 60 years ago, at a party following the 1966 premiere of Kafka’s The Trial at the Theatre on the Balustrade. Their paths crossed again in 1986. In the intervening two decades, Havel had become a leading dissident, forbidden from travelling abroad and kept under constant surveillance by the secret police. He had also spent several years as a political prisoner.
During this period, Dr Day met Havel periodically to deliver messages on behalf of the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, a British organisation that supported the Underground University — an independent educational movement operating outside official Communist control.
Witness History
Dr Day shared a story of arriving very late for a meeting with Havel simply because she hadn’t received the message in time. In the era before mobile phones and email, and when landlines were routinely listened in on by the secret police, plans had to be passed strictly by word of mouth. By the time Dr Day got the message and arrived at his home, Havel had already gone to bed assuming she was not coming. Upon hearing she had arrived, he emerged sleepily in his dressing gown to welcome her.
Then came the momentous events of November 1989. Although Havel’s life was transformed as he took his place on a much bigger stage than Prague’s theatres. He didn’t forget his old friends. Dr Day recalled a grand party at Prague Castle for the opening of the Rudolf II Exhibition in 1997. Amidst a glittering audience and formal procession along the Broad Corridor, Havel spotted Dr Day amongst the hundreds of people invited to the opening and stopped to greet her and to thank her. For those of us listening, it was our own Witness History moment.
Following Dr Day’s address, she was joined by Student Council Presidents Barbora Petrovičová and Adéla Struminská to unveil the three striking black-and-white portraits of our Patrons.
Remembering Literature, Music, and a Celebration
The ceremony also celebrated Havel’s literary legacy. Year 6 student Alžběta Pluhařová delivered a thoughtful reading of Havel’s famous essay Slovo o slovu (A Word About Words), followed by a musical performance of Year 2 student Sofie Hendrychová.
As the moving ceremony drew to a close, we shared a light hearted moment as we blew out the candles on three birthday cakes, with white icing and decorated with Václav Havel’s iconic red heart, the distinctive flourish with which he often signed his name.
Legacy
Thirty two years after the English College first opened its doors, and nearly four decades after the Velvet Revolution, we remain deeply grateful to Václav Havel for the vision, values and support that helped make our school possible. As we celebrated his 90th birthday, we were reminded that his legacy lives on not only in the history of the Czech Republic, but also in the lives and aspirations of generations of ECP students.
