Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright-turned-president, married a leading stage actress Saturday in a private civil ceremony.
Dagmar Veskrnova, 43, who is famous in the Czech Republic for her theater performances, adopted the feminine version of Havel's surname - Havlova, said the president's spokesman, Ladislav Spacek.The couple was accompanied only by Veskrnova's 19-year-old daughter, Nina, and two witnesses when they married shortly before noon at a municipal hall, Spacek said.
Havel, 60, wore a dark blue suit and his bride a short, white and black dress.
The marriage is the second for both. Havel's first wife, Olga, died a year ago, and Veskrnova divorced her first husband in 1980 after five years of marriage. The two have been dating since September, Havel's office said.
The Czech Republic's new first lady, a native of Brno, is a member of the prestigious Vinohrady Theater - one of the top stages in Prague - and has also appeared in movies.
Havel started out in theater as a stagehand, and grew into a successful playwright after the 1963 staging of his first play, "The Garden Party."
Unlike Havel, Veskrnova did not engage in dissident activities during communism. But before Czechoslovakia split in 1993, she was a member of a committee seeking to keep the country united - a position Havel endorsed.
The newlyweds returned to Havel's villa in a residential district close to Prague Castle. Only a few close friends were invited to celebrate later in the day, Spacek said.
Havel had a malignant tumor and half his right lung removed on Dec. 2. His recovery was complicated by pneumonia and bronchitis. He left the hospital Dec. 27 and has not yet returned to work.
Spacek said Havel's condition is good.