NAMES IN THE NEWS : Czech President Convalesces in Hospital After Hernia Surgery
Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel is expected to be hospitalized for about a week following a hernia operation, a spokesman said today.
Havel, 53, is recovering normally after Saturday’s operation, spokesman Michael Zantovsky said. He will need about a week to convalesce after his hospital stay.
Havel, a dissident playwright who became president after the country’s hard-line Communist rulers were ousted, suffered from bouts of ill health while imprisoned from 1979 to 1983 for his opposition to the Communist government.
He has maintained a punishing schedule since the whirlwind peaceful revolution started in November and propelled him to the presidency in December.
Since taking office, he has visited both Germanys, Poland, Hungary, Iceland, Canada, the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Britain, besides receiving a steady stream of foreign visitors in Prague and making trips around Czechoslovakia.
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