The dissident writer, chosen to lead the country's transition after the Communist regime was swept away in the peaceful Velvet Revolution of 1989, died on Sunday aged 75.
Mr Havel also oversaw the peaceful split of the country in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
His widow Dagmar, family members and friends gathered for the ceremony at the gothic St Vitus Cathedral which overlooks the capital city.
Among the guests were the presidents of France and Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy and Christian Wulff, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
Crowds watched the ceremony on huge screens in Prague Castle nearby.
Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka, who spent time in jail with Mr Havel during the communist occupation, lead the funeral mass.
Former Polish president Lech Walesa - who led the anti-communist Solidarity movement - also attended.
At the time of Mr Havel's death, which followed a long illness, Mr Cameron said Europe owed him a "profound debt" for leading the Czech people out of the "tyranny" of communist rule.
He said: "Havel devoted his life to the cause of human freedom.
"For years, communism tried to crush him and to extinguish his voice. But Havel, the playwright and the dissident, could not be silenced.
"No-one of my generation will ever forget those powerful scenes from Wenceslas Square two decades ago. Havel led the Czech people out of tyranny.
"And he helped bring freedom and democracy to our entire continent. Europe owes Vaclav Havel a profound debt."
Pope Benedict XV1 praised Mr Havel in a message read at the funeral: "Remembering how courageously Mr Havel defended human rights at a time when these were systematically denied to the people of your country, and paying tribute to his visionary leadership in forging a new democratic polity after the fall of the previous regime, I give thanks to God for the freedom that the people of the Czech Republic now enjoy."
The urn with the former leader's ashes will be buried at his family's plot Prague's Vinohrady cemetery alongside his first wife, Olga, who died in 1996.
Braving the freezing cold, thousands of grieving Czechs have waited in long lines every day since Monday to file past Mr Havel's coffin.
On Wednesday several thousand people joined a sombre procession as his body was taken to Prague Castle.
Mr Havel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award, by President George W Bush for being "one of liberty's great heroes".
The Polish city of Gdansk has renamed a street in his honour. Officials there believe Vaclav Havel Avenue is the first road in the world to have his name
No comments:
Post a Comment