Former Czech president Vaclav Havel dies

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel died during sleep in his countryside home in Hradecek at the age of 75 after a long illness on Sunday Dec 18,2011

 Vaclav Havel became president of then Czechoslovakia in December 1989, oversaw its peaceful split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 and led the country until 2003(twice elected president of the Czech Republic)
Vaclav Havel was also a playwright, essayist and poet,wrote over 20 plays and numerous non-fiction works that were translated internationally.
Vaclav Havel has received the -
US Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the Philadelphia Liberty Medal,
the Order of Canada,
the Ambassador of Conscience Award and
several other distinctions