The Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto marked the event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth and 15 years since his passing.

The opening remarks were delivered by the Consul General Radek Machů: he emphasized the values long championed and spread by Václav Havel. Further, he specifically noted a speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Economic Forum in Davos this past January, which featured an extended quote from Havel’s essay "The Power of the Powerless".

The main panelists included historian Marci Shore and Paul Wilson, a leading Canadian expert on Havel’s work. Marci Shore, a specialist in the contemporary history of Central and Eastern Europe, has been Chair in European Intellectual History at the Munk School at the University of Toronto since 2025, following her tenure at Yale University.

Paul Wilson’s connection to the Czech world would span nearly his entire career. Between 1967 and 1977, he lived in Czechoslovakia as an English teacher and was a member of the underground rock band The Plastic People of the Universe—a stint that inevitably led to his expulsion by the communist regime.

Upon returning to Canada, Wilson became a key figure in bringing Czech literature to Canadian readers, translating works by Josef Škvorecký, Ivan Klíma, and Bohumil Hrabal. He translated "The Power of the Powerless" for Canadian audiences in 1979, followed by other major titles by Václav Havel such as Letters to Olga, Disturbing the Peace, Summer Meditations, and the presidential memoirs To the Castle and Back. He has also translated four of Havel's plays for the Canadian stage. Excitingly, Wilson’s latest project brings a "new" piece by Václav Havel to the Canadian audience: a translation of the recently discovered manuscript with the working title I Hid it Somewhere, a classic Havel-esque reflection on the absurdities of life.

The panel in Toronto explored the historical context and the surprising relevance of Havel’s essays and political speeches today. While the era in which he wrote has passed, Havel’s moral clarity and original thought continue to offer a vital message for our own turbulent and unpredictable times.

The event was organized in collaboration with Barbara J. Falk, Robert Austin, and Georgina Steinsky, and co-sponsored by the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, The Jan and Georgina Steinsky Memorial Czech Studies Endowment at the University of Toronto, and The Syptak Family Fund for Czech Studies at the University of Toronto.
 

Address by Consul General Machů