Václav Havel Library in Prague renamed after dispute: What happened?

A Prague institution dedicated to the legacy of Václav Havel has officially dropped the former Czech president's name following months of turmoil over its leadership and future direction.

The Václav Havel Library is now called the First Presidential Library, its board confirmed Thursday. The unusual change comes after Havel's widow and library co-founder Dagmar Havlová withdrew permission for the institution to use her late husband's name.

Despite the rebranding, the organization says it intends to continue developing Havel's legacy. But the loss of naming rights will have wider consequences, including ending the library's involvement in organizing the prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.

The dispute dates back to tensions surrounding economist and philosopher Tomáš Sedláček, who became the library's director in 2025 and proposed a new, more globally oriented vision for the institution.

Disagreements over its direction eventually developed into a major internal crisis. Nearly the entire staff resigned this spring, including longtime program director, writer and journalist Jáchym Topol.

Major donors also withdrew their support. Zdeněk and Michaela Bakala, whose foundation had been one of the library's principal financial backers, ended their funding, while billionaire Karel Komárek also withdrew as a donor.

The library's governing bodies subsequently underwent major changes. Sedláček ultimately stepped down as director, while new members were brought onto the board as the institution sought to stabilize its operations.

Havlová, meanwhile, ended her involvement with the organization and in June revoked permission for it to use Václav Havel's name.

Library officials attempted to reach an agreement with her over its future, but those talks did not produce a deal. The organization announced in August that it would therefore need a new name.

The result, the First Presidential Library (1. prezidentská knihovna in Czech), is already being used on the institution's website and social media.

The institution was founded in 2004 by Havlová, politician Karel Schwarzenberg and sociologist Miloslav Petrusek, shortly after Havel left office. Inspired by the American tradition of presidential libraries, it was created to collect, preserve and make accessible documents relating to Havel's life, writing, political career and ideas.

Havel, who died in 2011, was a playwright and leading communist-era dissident who became the last president of Czechoslovakia following the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and, in 1993, the first president of the independent Czech Republic.

The newly renamed library says it intends to preserve as many of its existing activities as possible and continue working with Havel's legacy despite no longer carrying his name.

One significant tradition will not continue in the same form. The institution says it can no longer participate in organizing the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize because it does not have permission to use his name in the project.

More details about the library's future are expected shortly. Its board is meeting this week, with a press conference scheduled for Sept. 14 at its Prague headquarters. While its name has changed, one thing won't: the library will remain at its current home on Ostrovní Street in central Prague.