Gdansk Names Street After Vaclav Havel

Gdansk has named the world's first street after Vaclav Havel, in honour of the Czech dissident, playwright, and former president, who died in December 2011 aged 75.

The city council members voted unanimously to rename a street 2 kilometres south of the centre, unveiling the new street sign on December 23, the day of Havel's funeral in Prague.

Gdansk has a long history of anti-communism movements, with the history-changing Solidarity movement being born in its shipyards. The movement's leader Lech Walesa continues to reside in the city. As a symbol of democratic revolution in Europe, Gdansk's mayor Pawel Adamowicz has called Vaclav Havel the "Czech Walesa".