diff --git a/include/wx/event.h b/include/wx/event.h
index 223502421d..744263bba4 100644
--- a/include/wx/event.h
+++ b/include/wx/event.h
@@ -817,22 +817,7 @@ class WXDLLEXPORT wxKeyEvent : public wxEvent
 {
 public:
     wxKeyEvent(wxEventType keyType = wxEVT_NULL);
-	wxKeyEvent(const wxKeyEvent& evt) : wxEvent(evt)
-    {
-        m_x = evt.m_x;
-        m_y = evt.m_y;
-
-        m_keyCode = evt.m_keyCode;
-
-        m_controlDown = evt.m_controlDown;
-        m_shiftDown = evt.m_shiftDown;
-        m_altDown = evt.m_altDown;
-        m_metaDown = evt.m_metaDown;
-        m_scanCode = evt.m_scanCode;
-        m_rawCode = evt.m_rawCode;
-        m_rawFlags = evt.m_rawFlags;
-    }
-
+	wxKeyEvent(const wxKeyEvent& evt);
 
     // Find state of shift/control keys
     bool ControlDown() const { return m_controlDown; }
@@ -914,8 +899,14 @@ public:
     bool          m_metaDown;
     bool          m_scanCode;
 
-    // these fields contain the platform-specific information about the pressed
-    // key
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+    // This contains the full Unicode character
+    // in a character events in Unicode mode
+    wxChar        m_uniChar;
+#endif
+
+    // these fields contain the platform-specific information about
+    // key that was pressed
     wxUint32      m_rawCode;
     wxUint32      m_rawFlags;
 
diff --git a/samples/erase/erase.cpp b/samples/erase/erase.cpp
index c5eab3433a..307035e068 100644
--- a/samples/erase/erase.cpp
+++ b/samples/erase/erase.cpp
@@ -181,6 +181,15 @@ MyCanvas::MyCanvas( MyFrame *parent )
 
 void MyCanvas::OnChar( wxKeyEvent &event )
 {
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+    if (event.m_uniChar)
+    {
+        m_text += event.m_uniChar;
+        Refresh();
+        return;
+    }
+#endif
+
     // some test cases
     switch (event.m_keyCode)
     {
@@ -192,7 +201,6 @@ void MyCanvas::OnChar( wxKeyEvent &event )
         default: m_text += event.m_keyCode; break;
     }
     
-    Refresh();
 }
 
 void MyCanvas::OnPaint( wxPaintEvent &event )
diff --git a/src/common/event.cpp b/src/common/event.cpp
index d4cc3c54d4..6e578317e2 100644
--- a/src/common/event.cpp
+++ b/src/common/event.cpp
@@ -545,9 +545,32 @@ wxKeyEvent::wxKeyEvent(wxEventType type)
     m_altDown = FALSE;
     m_keyCode = 0;
     m_scanCode = 0;
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+    m_uniChar = 0;
+#endif
 }
 
+wxKeyEvent::wxKeyEvent(const wxKeyEvent& evt) 
+    : wxEvent(evt)
+{
+    m_x = evt.m_x;
+    m_y = evt.m_y;
 
+    m_keyCode = evt.m_keyCode;
+
+    m_controlDown = evt.m_controlDown;
+    m_shiftDown = evt.m_shiftDown;
+    m_altDown = evt.m_altDown;
+    m_metaDown = evt.m_metaDown;
+    m_scanCode = evt.m_scanCode;
+    m_rawCode = evt.m_rawCode;
+    m_rawFlags = evt.m_rawFlags;
+        
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+    m_uniChar = evt.m_uniChar;
+#endif
+}
+    
 wxWindowCreateEvent::wxWindowCreateEvent(wxWindow *win)
 {
     SetEventType(wxEVT_CREATE);
diff --git a/src/gtk/window.cpp b/src/gtk/window.cpp
index 199fef91a8..034346acbb 100644
--- a/src/gtk/window.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/window.cpp
@@ -1356,8 +1356,11 @@ static void gtk_wxwindow_commit_cb (GtkIMContext *context,
     wxKeyEvent event( wxEVT_KEY_DOWN );
     
     // I wonder how well keyval represents a Unicode char
-    gunichar ch = g_utf8_get_char( str );
-    event.m_keyCode = ch;
+    event.m_uniChar = g_utf8_get_char( str );
+    
+    // Backward compatible for ISO-8859
+    if (event.m_uniChar < 256)
+        event.m_keyCode = event.m_uniChar;
     
     if (!ret)
     {
diff --git a/src/gtk1/window.cpp b/src/gtk1/window.cpp
index 199fef91a8..034346acbb 100644
--- a/src/gtk1/window.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk1/window.cpp
@@ -1356,8 +1356,11 @@ static void gtk_wxwindow_commit_cb (GtkIMContext *context,
     wxKeyEvent event( wxEVT_KEY_DOWN );
     
     // I wonder how well keyval represents a Unicode char
-    gunichar ch = g_utf8_get_char( str );
-    event.m_keyCode = ch;
+    event.m_uniChar = g_utf8_get_char( str );
+    
+    // Backward compatible for ISO-8859
+    if (event.m_uniChar < 256)
+        event.m_keyCode = event.m_uniChar;
     
     if (!ret)
     {