Tom Stoppard
Playwright and Human Rights Activist
United Kingdom
Born Tomáš Straussler in Zlín, Czechoslovakia, his family fled to Singapore on 15 March 1939, the day that the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia. He has written more than 20 plays, including The Coast of Utopia, Arcadia or Rock´n´Roll and has co-authored the screenplay for Shakespeare in Love. He became involved with Index on Censorship, Amnesty International, and the Committee Against Psychiatric Abuse and wrote various newspaper articles and letters about human rights. He was also instrumental in translating Havel's works into English. He holds Order of Merit and Order of the British Empire and was voted the number 76 on the 2008 Time 100, Time magazine's list of the most influential people in the world.
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