He drove Václav Havel and other dissidents to meetings with members of the Polish opposition
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Vladimír Linhart was born on June 28, 1962 in Trutnov. His parents were of working-class origin, his father worked as a crane operator, his mother as a seamstress, and they were not politically involved. Already in the second grade of primary school, Vladimír Linhart had problems because of his long hair and listening to Western music. In both cases, he and his brother were inspired by their father. After finishing primary school, he went to Úpice to apprentice as a salesman. At the apprenticeship centre, his problems with his hair and dressing got worse, but he passed his final exams and started working as a grocery clerk in Trutnov. At that time he was already friends with members of the North Bohemian underground, Václav Blabolil and Stanislav Pitaš. They toured illegal concerts and took part in a concert in Plačkov near Humpolec, which was brutally dispersed by the police in 1981. They distributed samizdat and Charter 77 documents. Through the underground, Vladimír Linhart met Václav and Olga Havel, whom he often visited in Hrádeček near Trutnov. In 1982, he enlisted for two years of military service, which he completed in the air defence forces in Karviná, Pezinok, Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek. He finished the military service as a ration clerk in Bratislava. After returning to civilian life he married and had a daughter. He continued to work in the grocery business, but as a driver. He became involved in underground activities again. He distributed the magazine Vokno, co-organised a march of “Máničky” between Havlovice-Kohoutov, drove Václav Havel and other dissidents to meetings with members of the Polish opposition in the Czech-Polish border area. In 1986, he signed Charter 77. Vladimír Linhart did not escape the attention of the State Security, so he experienced dozens of interrogations. The State Security officers threatened him about his daughter, went to his work to pick him up, and detained him during important anniversaries so that he could not go to protest events. In November 1989, he was one of the first activists to start anti-regime demonstrations in Trutnov’s square. However, after the Civic Forum was formed, he withdrew from the public space because of former communists who were pushing for positions in the Civic Forumm. Vladimír Linhart worked as a driver until 1997 and then made his living as a sales representative selling children’s goods. He settled in Úpice.
