The traditional awarding of the Foundation VIZE 97 Prize will be combined with a benefit auction of Vaclav Havel commemorative medals
The Laureate of the Foundation VIZE 97 Prize for 2012 shall, as part of tomorrow’s celebrations of the birth of Vaclav Havel, the former Czech President, become Miloslav Petrusek, a prominent Czech sociologist and university professor. The full-day programme at the Prague Crossroads will also include the auctioning of three Vaclav Havel commemorative medals made by the Czech Mint. The gold, platinum and silver versions of this medal, all bearing the serial number one, will be auctioned off. The proceeds from this benefit auction will be used to support the projects of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97.
This year’s Foundation VIZE 97 Prize will be awarded posthumously to the recently deceased Professor Miloslav Petrusek on 5 October. The prize will be collected from Dagmar Havlová by Jan Holub, his oldest grandson. The Foundation has, together with Professor Petrusek, prepared a traditional laureate’s almanac, titled Society and Culture, the sale of which shall be launched tomorrow.
The ceremony, commencing at 4 p.m. in St. Anne’s, a deconsecrated church in Prague 1, will be preceded by a public panel discussion from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., the participants of which will be Martin Bútor, Miloš Havelka, Helena Kubátová, Petr Lupač, Miroslav Paulíček and Marek Skovajsa.
For the early evening programme of the celebrations, the Czech Mint, in collaboration with the Foundation VIZE 97 and the Vltavín auction house, prepared a benefit auction at which the unique medals issued in honour of Vaclav Havel will be auctioned off. This limited series consisted of ten one kilogram gold, ten half-kilogram platinum and ten one kilogram silver medals, thus continuing on from the March release of half-ounce gold and one ounce silver medals, which is already completely sold out. “The public interest has exceeded our expectations. The gold medals were sold out within twenty-four hours of their official minting, which is a testimony to the power of the President’s legacy”, said Radek Šulta, the Czech Mint’s general manager.
The starting price of the gold medal is CZK 1,450,000, CZK 800,000 for the platinum and CZK 60,000 for the silver. The main motif is a portrait of Vaclav Havel on the front, with the back inscribed with the President’s signature and the motto “Truth and love will prevail over lies and hatred.” The motif’s authors are Jiří Dostál and Jan Hásek. The proceeds from the benefit auction will be used to support the projects of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97. The Czech Mint is guaranteeing a minimum income CZK 155,000. The Foundation obtained more than two million crowns from the spring issue. “This has made the Czech Mint our general partner and our largest contributor for this year,” said Vangelis Zingopis, the Head of Office of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97.