Final answer:
Vaclav Havel was the former President of Czechoslovakia, originally a playwright who became a political activist and led the country after the Velvet Revolution until its peaceful split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Step-by-step explanation:
The former President of Czechoslovakia was Vaclav Havel, who had an impactful and varied career beginning as a playwright. His involvement in the arts took a significant turn when his work began to criticize totalitarian politics, leading to his plays being banned and his subsequent arrests. Havel's political activism escalated, culminating in him spending four years in prison. Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, a peaceful transition from Communist rule, Vaclav Havel emerged as a key figure and became the president of Czechoslovakia, leading the country until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.