List of Slovak Americans
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable Slovak American
s, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Slovak American or must have references showing they are Slovak American and are notable.
Slovak American
Slovak Americans are Americans of Slovak descent. In the 1990 Census Slovak Americans made up the second-largest portion of Slavic ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak descent living in the United States. -Eighteenth century:...
s, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Slovak American or must have references showing they are Slovak American and are notable.
Arts, culture, and entertainment
- Jon Bon JoviJon Bon JoviJon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
– rock musician - Jim Caviezel – film actor
- Steve DitkoSteve DitkoStephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
– comic book artist and writer, co-creator of the Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
heroes Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and Doctor Strange. - Moritz FuerstMoritz FuerstMoritz Fuerst was an American artist of Jewish-Slovak origin.Fuerst was born near Bratislava.Prior to immigrating, he was enlisted by the American consul at Livorno, Italy, in 1807, and came to the United States to work as an engraver. In 1808 he settled in Philadelphia, where he set up business...
– artist employed with United States MintUnited States MintThe United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
in the 19th century - Angelina JolieAngelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
– actress, former fashion model and Goodwill AmbassadorGoodwill AmbassadorGoodwill Ambassador is a collective term sometimes used as a substitute honorific title or a title of honor for an Ambassador of Goodwill; but, most appropriately for a generic recognition, it is a job position or description that is usually indicated following the name of the individual recognized...
for the UN Refugee AgencyUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation AdministrationThe United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down... - Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
– actor - Paul NewmanPaul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
– actor and film director (his maternal grandparents were Slovak) - Lizabeth ScottLizabeth ScottLizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...
– actress - Robert UrichRobert UrichRobert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
– actor - Jon VoightJon VoightJonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
– actor - Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
– artist - Ivan ReitmanIvan ReitmanIvan Reitman, OC is a Canadian film producer and director. He is known for the comedies he has directed and produced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.He is the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 2000.-Early life:...
– film director
Business
- John DopyeraJohn DopyeraJohn Dopyera was a Slovak-American inventor and entrepreneur, and a maker of stringed instruments. His inventions include the resonator guitar and important contributions in the early development of the electric guitar....
– inventor, entrepreneur - Justine EzarikJustine EzarikJustine Ezarik , is an American viral video comedian, and Internet personality. She is best known as iJustine, a lifecaster who communicates directly with her thousands of viewers on her Justin.tv channel, ijustine.tv. She has made more than 400 videos, including videos on such subjects as Lost and...
– Internet Blogger - John D. HertzJohn D. HertzJohn Daniel Hertz, Sr. was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.-Biography:...
– businessman, thoroughbredThoroughbredThe Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse owner, and philanthropist
Law and politics
- Michael BadnarikMichael BadnarikMichael J. Badnarik is an American software engineer, political figure, and former radio talk show host. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 elections, and placed fourth in the race, behind independent candidate Ralph Nader...
– software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host - William T. DzurillaWilliam T. DzurillaWilliam T. Dzurilla, formerly William T. D'Zurilla, is an attorney, a partner in the law firm's Fort Lauderdale, Florida office. He was a law clerk for Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983...
, international attorney and law clerkLaw clerkA law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
to JusticeJusticeJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
Byron WhiteByron WhiteByron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
of the United States Supreme Court - Carolyn ForchéCarolyn ForchéCarolyn Forché is an American poet, editor, translator, and human rights advocate.-Life:Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 28, 1950, to Michael Joseph and Louise Nada Blackford Sidlosky. Forché earned a B.A...
– professor, poet, editor, and human rights advocate - Dennis "DJ" Mikolay - syndicated political columnist
- Michael NovakMichael NovakMichael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...
– philosopher, diplomat - Tom RidgeTom RidgeThomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
– RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania and 1st Secretary of United States Department of Homeland SecurityUnited States Department of Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
. - John RobertsJohn RobertsJohn Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
– 17th Chief Justice of the United StatesChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States... - Joe Sestak – US Representative, DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
7th District; retired US Naval vice-admiral - Mark SingelMark SingelMark Stephen Singel served as the Democratic lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995 under Bob Casey He was acting governor from June 14, 1993, to December 13, 1993, during Casey's lengthy battle with amyloidosis and subsequent multiple organ transplant.A graduate of Pennsylvania...
– 28th Lieutenant Governor of PennsylvaniaLieutenant Governor of PennsylvaniaThe Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lieutenant Governor is elected every four years along with the Governor. Jim Cawley of Bucks County is the incumbent Lieutenant Governor... - Judy Baar TopinkaJudy Baar TopinkaJudy Baar Topinka is the Illinois State Comptroller and former Illinois State Treasurer, having served as Treasurer from 1995 to 2007, and former chairwoman of the Illinois Republican Party. She was the first woman to become state treasurer, first to be elected to three consecutive terms and the...
– RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician in IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... - Jesse VenturaJesse VenturaJames George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
– 38th Governor of MinnesotaGovernor of MinnesotaThe Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...
, wrestler, television personality
Military
- Štefan BaničŠtefan BanicŠtefan Banič was a Slovak inventor who devised a military parachute, the first parachute ever deployed in actual use....
– inventor of the military parachuteParachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
and one of the first actually used parachute - Eugene Cernan – retired United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
officerOfficer (armed forces)An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and a former NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
involved in the Apollo program (Slovak father) - Richard MarcinkoRichard MarcinkoRichard "Dick" Marcinko , is a retired Commander in the United States Navy and a former Navy SEAL. He was the first Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Six and Red Cell...
– U.S. Navy SEAL and Founder of SEAL Team 6 - Michael StrankMichael StrankMichael Strank was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was photographed raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The leader of the group in the famous picture was Strank, who got the order to climb Mt. Suribachi to lay telephone wire...
– Sergeant of the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Famous for Raising the Flag on Iwo JimaRaising the Flag on Iwo JimaRaising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...
.
Religion
- Joseph Victor AdamecJoseph Victor AdamecJoseph Victor Adamec is the former Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Born in Bannister, Michigan, Bishop Joseph studied for the priesthood at the Pontifical Nepomucene College in Rome and earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University. He was...
– bishop of the Roman Catholic DioceseDioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of AltoonaAltoona, Pennsylvania-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
-JohnstownJohnstown, PennsylvaniaJohnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County... - Teresa DemjanovichTeresa DemjanovichSister Miriam Teresa, born Teresa Demjanovich was a United States Roman Catholic Sister of Charity.Teresa Demjanovich was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on March 26, 1901, the youngest of seven children...
– Roman Catholic nun - John HardonJohn HardonJohn A. S. A. Hardon, S.J., Servant of God was a Jesuit priest, writer, and theologian. He is the founder of The Holy Trinity Apostolate.-Early life:...
– priest, author, theologian, community leader - Thomas HopkoThomas HopkoThomas Hopko is an Orthodox Christian priest and theologian. He was the Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary from September 1992 until July 1, 2002 and taught dogmatic theology there from 1968 until 2002. Now retired, he carries the honorary title of Dean Emeritus.- Life and...
– Orthodox Christian theologian
Science and medicine
- John DopyeraJohn DopyeraJohn Dopyera was a Slovak-American inventor and entrepreneur, and a maker of stringed instruments. His inventions include the resonator guitar and important contributions in the early development of the electric guitar....
– inventor of the resonator acoustic guitar - Mike Fincke – NASA astronaut- International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
Commander - Daniel Carleton GajdusekDaniel Carleton GajdusekDaniel Carleton Gajdusek was an American physician and medical researcher who was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for work on kuru, the first human prion disease demonstrated to be infectious....
– Nobel Prize winner for discovery of viruses with prolonged incubation periods - Ivan Alexander Getting – Electrical engineer inventor of GPS
- Jozef MurgašJozef MurgašJozef Murgaš was a Slovak inventor, architect, botanist, painter, patriot, and Roman Catholic priest...
– inventor, architect, botanist, painter, US patriot, and Roman Catholic priest. - Douglas D. OsheroffDouglas D. OsheroffDouglas Dean Osheroff is an American physicist known for his work in experimental condensed matter physics, in particular for his co-discovery of superfluidity in Helium-3. For his contributions he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics along with David Lee and Robert C...
– physicist - Hugh David PolitzerHugh David PolitzerHugh David Politzer is an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics with David Gross and Frank Wilczek for their discovery of asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics.-Life and career:...
- physicist, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics
Sports
- Chuck BednarikChuck BednarikCharles Philip Bednarik is a former professional American football player, known as one of the most devastating tacklers in the history of football and the last two-way player in the National Football League...
– former professional American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player for the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL. - Jeff BzdelikJeff BzdelikJeff Bzdelik is an American basketball coach, currently coaching at Wake Forest University. He formerly coached the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association for slightly over two seasons, from 2002 through 2004...
– basketball coach at Wake Forest UniversityWake Forest UniversityWake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is... - Jack KralickJack KralickJohn Francis Kralick , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1959 to 1967. He participated in 235 games in the course of an eight-year career that included stints with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians...
– former pitcher for Washington Senators and Cleveland IndiansCleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
. - Andy KoscoAndy KoscoAndy Kosco is a former Major League Baseball player who was affiliated at various times with the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels, Boston Red Sox, and Cincinnati Reds....
– former baseball player - Johnny KucabJohnny KucabJohn Albert Kucab was a standout pitcher in major and minor league baseball who is best known for pitching the Philadelphia Athletics to victory in Connie Mack's last game as a major league manager.- Early years :...
– pitcher for Philadelphia AthleticsOakland AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
in 1940s and 1950s. - Pete LatzoPete LatzoPete Latzo was the boxing world welterweight champion from 1926 to 1927. Latzo fought all the top welterweights of his era and won the title from hall of famer Mickey Walker on May 20, 1926. He lost the crown to Joe Dundee on June 3, 1927.After losing the welter crown Latzo invaded the heavier...
– boxerBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds... - Stan MikitaStan MikitaStanislav "Stan" Mikita , is a Slovak-born Canadian retired professional ice hockey player, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s. In 1961, he won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he played his entire career.-Early life:Mikita was born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic...
– professional ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player - Kelly PavlikKelly PavlikKelly Pavlik is an American professional boxer. He was The Ring, WBC, & WBO middleweight champion from when he beat Jermain Taylor on September 29, 2007 until he lost his titles to Sergio Martinez on April 17, 2010....
– undefeated WBO/World Boxing CouncilWorld Boxing CouncilThe World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
middleweightMiddleweightMiddleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion. - George ShubaGeorge ShubaGeorge "Shotgun" Shuba is a former utility outfielder and left-handed pinch hitter in Major League Baseball who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His seven seasons included three World Series as well as a World Series championship in 1955...
– former outfielderOutfielderOutfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. - Peter StastnyPeter StastnyPeter Šťastný , also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a retired Slovak professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1995. During his time with the Quebec Nordiques, Stastny became a Canadian citizen. Since 2004, he has also served as a...
– professional ice hockey player - Yan StastnyYan StastnyYan Stastny is an American-Canadian born professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Yan comes from a notable hockey family, and is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Šťastný...
– professional ice hockey player - Paul StastnyPaul StastnyPaul Stastny is an American professional ice hockey center, an alternate captain for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League . Of Slovak lineage, Stastny is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, who played for the Avalanche's predecessor, the Quebec Nordiques...
– professional ice hockey player