Born in Czechoslovakia as Tomáš Straussler in 1937, his family fled to Singapore two years later to escape the Nazis. In 1941, he and his mother and brother moved to Darjeeling before the expected Japanese advance. His father was to follow them but he was killed during the invasion. Tom's mother married Kenneth Stoppard, a major in the British army, and the family moved to England in 1946. Following a visit to the Soviet Union and a number of Eastern European countries with a member of Amnesty International in 1977, he became interested in civil rights. He wrote a number of news articles and letters concerning human rights as a result of this visit, including "Czech Human Rights" (February 1977) and "Human Rights in Prague" (October 1977).
Stoppard's involvement in civil rights did not wane after his first trip with the member of Amnesty International. In June 1977, Stoppard went back to the place of his birth with a political dissident and activist. Czechoslovakia was then a communist state, making the visit a risky endeavor. It was as a result of this trip that he met the dissident and fellow playwright Vaclav Havel. Stoppard continued writing articles and letters concerning human rights and censorship. He took a more active part in Amnesty International and became involved with the organization Index on Censorship, which produces a magazine, website and projects on free expression throughout the world.
Although his previous work had been criticized for not betraying any political stances or commitments, Stoppard's involvement in civil rights and censorship soon pervaded his work. Though certainly not political works in themselves, some of his work following that first trip in 1977 did touch on his experiences with political dissidents. "Every Good Boy Deserves a Favor" (1977) is about a political dissident in a mental hospital, inspired by real events. He touches on the themes of censorship, civil rights and state repression in a few of his other works, including "Dogg's Hamlet" and "Cahoot's Macbeth" (1979). In "Rock 'n' Roll" (2006), he sets the scene in Communist Czechoslovakia and correlates rock 'n' roll with the growing freedom movement in the country between 1968 and 1989. While most of his plays do not touch on such political matters, all of them are infused with the love of linguistics and exploration of philosophical issues that mark all his work.
Stoppard continues his involvement in civil rights and censorship. On March 25, 2011, he attended and was a contributor to the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards 2011, where 400 attendees gathered at the Royal Institution in London. The awards honor freedom of speech advocates and champions of human rights.