List of Czech Americans

This is a list of notable Czech Americans.

Many people on this list are not ethnically Czech but rather born in Bohemian territory, of German and/or Jewish extraction.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Czech American or must have references showing they are Czech American and are notable.

Pioneer colonists

• Joachim Gans from Prague, a metallurgist, a member of the first English colonization effort in America (Roanoke, 1585)
• Augustine Herman one of the earliest immigrants in America from Bohemia; creator of first accurate map of MD & VA
• Frederick Philipse a descendant of Bohemian aristocratic family, wealthiest person in New Amsterdam (New York)

Business

• Joseph Bulova, arrived in New York from Bohemia in 1870 at the age of 19. Opened a jewelry store, J. Bulova, in Lower Manhattan. Bulova Watch Company became an iconic American watch and clockmaking company.
• Richard N. Cabela, of Czech ancestry, an entrepreneur, known as a founder in 1961 of Cabela's one of the world's leading outfitters of outdoor sporting and recreational goods.
• Charles Louis Fleischmann, a Moravia-born innovative manufacturer of yeast and other consumer food products during the 19th Century; founder of the Fleischmann Yeast Co.
• Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald Empire
• Sigmund Mandl, Czech immigrant, founded Husky Wrench Company in Wisconsin in 1924.
• Frank Vlchek, Czech immigrant, started out with a small blacksmith shop in Cleveland that grew into Vlcheck Tool Co. that went on to become the largest automotive hand-tool manufacturer and a pioneer in plastics technology.

Religion

• Lewis Hodous, American missionary and Sinologist.
• Joseph Maria Koudelka, second bishop of Diocese of Superior.
• John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia; first American male Saint.
• David Nitschmann, (1696‑1772), first bishop of the renewed Unitas fratrum, the Moravian Church.
• Isaac Mayer Wise, Rabbi, Founder of Reformed Judaism in the US.
• David Zeisberger, a famed Moravian missionary among the Indians.
• Patrick Zurek, current Bishop of Amarillo since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 3 January 2008.

Government & politics

• Madeleine Albright, born in Prague, former US Secretary of State.
• Richard Bassett desc. of Augustine Herman, signer of the US constitution.
• James Asheton Bayard (III), desc. of Augustine Herman, an American lawyer who served as U.S. Senator from Delaware.
• Richard Henry Bayard, desc. of Augustine Herman, an American lawyer, a member of the Whig Party who served as the first Mayor of Wilmington, Chief Justice of the Delaware Superior Court, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware.
• Thomas Francis Bayard, Sr., desc. of Augustine Herman, an American lawyer who served three terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware, and as U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
• Thomas Francis Bayard, Jr., desc. of Augustine Herman, served two terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware.
• Anton Cermak was the Mayor of Chicago, IL.
• Henry Horner of Bohemian ancestry, was the 28th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1933 to 1940.
• Roman Hruska was Senator from Nebraska.
• Otto Kerner, Jr. was Governor of Illinois
• John Forbes Kerry, the 68th and current United States Secretary of State, the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election.
• Anthony Michalek was member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Chicago, IL.
• Robert J. Mrazek was member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Edmund Jennings Randolph, desc. of Augustine Herman, an American attorney, the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first US Attorney General.
• Adolph J. Sabath was member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Chicago, IL.
• Judy Baar Topinka was Illinois State Treasurer and Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
• Robert Vanasek is a Minnesota politician and a former member and Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
• Caspar Willard Weinberger of Bohemian ancestry on his father's side, politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987.

Law

• Louis D. Brandeis, son of Czech immigrant, Justice of US Supreme Court.
• Paul Freund, of Bohemian ancestry, lawyer; professor of law at Harvard University; authority on public law and understanding the Supreme Court.
• Hans Kelsen, Prague-born jurist and legal philosopher; one of the most important legal scholars of the 20th century.
• John Glover Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of US Supreme Court

Music

• Jan Balatka, conductor, founder of the Milwaukee Musical Society.
• Exene Cervenka, singer of the Los Angeles-based X (American band).
• Renee Fleming, opera singer.
• Rudolf Firkusny, pianist of note.
• Rudolf Friml, composer of operettas.
• Jan Hammer, musician, film music composer; Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist.
• Karel Husa, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.
• Maria Jeritza (orig. Marie Jedlickova), b. Brno, Moravia, a famed Metropolitan Opera singer, known for her role as Sieglinda, Elisabeth, Santuzza, Fedora, Rosalinda, Carmen, Salome, Octavius, Tosca and Turandot.
• Tomas Kalnoky, Prague-born lead guitarist/vocalist of New Jersey ska punk band Streetlight Manifesto
• Jerome David Kern, of Bohemian ancestry on his mother' side (Fanny Kakeles), one of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", etc.
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a Brno-born Hollywood composer.
• Ivan Kral, musician and director.
• Bohumil Makovsky, band leader
• Mark Matejka, guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Jason Mraz, Singer-Songwriter.
• Stephanie Novacek, operatic mezzo-soprano of Czech descent.
• Jarmila Novotná, opera singer.
• Ric Ocasek, singer of The Cars.
• Rudolf Serkin, eminent pianist.
• George Szell, prominent conductor and composer of Cleveland Orchestra.
• Miroslav Vitouš, musician (Weather Report bassist).
• Jaromír Weinberger, composer.

Dramatic art

• Adrien Brody, film actor. His maternal grandmother was of Czech Jewish background
• Frank Daniel, film producer, writer, director and first dean of the American Film Institute.
• Paul Dano, actor, father of Czech descent
• Miloš Forman, film director.
• Karl Freund, cinematographer and director.
• Bruce Glover, film actor (of part Czech descent)
• Crispin Glover, film producer, writer, director and actor, both parents of part Czech descent
• Fanny Janauschek, a famed character actress, who became famous acting in great Shakespearean parts and other famous parts.
• Jim Jarmusch, independent filmmaker.
• Ashton Kutcher, motion picture actor, of 5/8ths Czech descent
• Francis Lederer, b. Prague, Czech., actor, leading man in Hollywood from 1933, after European stage and film experience.
• Karl Malden, Czech mother, an actor, whose career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
• Eva Novak, b. St. Louis, MO, of Bohemian ancestry, an actress, a silent screen lady; she starred as Tom Mix's love interest in ten of his westerns, including "Sky High" and "Trailin".
• Jane Novak, b. St. Louis, MO, of Bohemian ancestry, an actress; the celebrated blond beauty and a leading lady to such stars as W. S. Hart, Tom Mix, Harold Lloyd, Hobart Bosworth, W. D. Taylor, Charles Ray, etc.
• Kim Novak, motion picture actress.
• Ivan Passer, film director.
• Walter Slezak, film actor.
• Sissy Spacek, actress, her father was of Czech origin.
• Rip Torn, film actor, first cousin of Sissy Spacek (mother of Czech descent)
• George Voskovec, actor, writer.
• Blanche Yurka (orig, Jurka), of Czech immigrant father, an American theatre and film actress until the late 1960s. In addition to her many stage roles, including Queen Gertrude opposite John Barrymore's Hamlet, she was also a director and playwright.
• William Zabka, actor, producer, screenwriter, and martial artist.
• Robert Urich, actor

Visual art

• Charles Demuth, of Moravian ancestry, an artist; a notable painter who had major influence on American art by introduction of modern European movements, such as cubism.
• Harrison Fisher, of Bohemian ancestry, a popular commercial artist and illustrator of the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine from the early 1900s through 1934; known as 'The Father of a Thousand Girls'.
• Wanda Gág, a notable American illustrator and author of Bohemian descent.
• Leo Holub, photographer.
• Antonín Kratochvíl, Czech-born American photojournalist.
• Jan Matulka, painter.
• Albin Polasek, sculptor.
• Antonin Raymond, a famed architect who explored traditional Japanese building techniques with the latest American building innovations.
• Rudolph Ruzicka, a prominent Czech-born American wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, typeface designer, and book designer.
• Charles Sindelar, illustrator and painter.
• Peter Sis, writer and illustrator of children's books.
• Paul Strand, of Bohemian immigrant parents, one of the most important figures in American twentieth-century photography.
• Ladislav Sutnar, a graphic artist, considered one of the great pioneers of the modern period.
• William Pachner, painter and illustrator

Creative writing

• Miles J. Breuer, trained as physician, an early science fiction writer.
• Theodore Dreiser, of Moravian mother, a notable American writer in the naturalism movement.
• James Thomas Flexner, of Bohemian ancestry, one of American foremost men of letters, especially noted for his four-volume Biography of George Washington.
• Patricia Hampl, writer; one of the founding members of the Loft Literary Center.
• Arnost Lustig, a notable writer of the Holocaust.
• Frederic Prokosch, a novelist and poet.
• Charles Sealsfield (pseudonym of Karl Anton Postl), author of romantic novels with American backgrounds and travelogues.
• Clifford Donald Simak, an American science fiction writer of Czech ancestry.
• Josef Skvorecky, writer.
• Nicholas Sparks, an internationally-bestselling American novelist and screenwriter of Czech ancestry.
• Joseph Wechsberg, a free-lance writer associated with the New Yorker magazine.
• Franz Werfel, a famous novelist, playwright, and poet, known especially for his novel, Song of Bernadette.

Media and publishing

• Meyer Berger, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and columnist for The New York Times.
• Edward Bloch, founder of the Bloch Publishing Company, the first Jewish publishing house in US.
• Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski, of Czech mother, TV news journalist at MSNBC, co-host of MSNBC's weekday morning program Morning Joe.
• Edward Rosewater, founder of the daily The Omaha Daily Bee which developed into the largest and most influential newspaper on the mid-west.
• Jim Svejda, announcer for KUSC radio in Los Angeles, a nationally-known classical music station.
• Rosa Sonneschein, born in Prostejov, Moravia, founder and editor of The American Jewess magazine - the first English-language periodical targeted to American Jewish women.

Humanities & Social Sciences

• Francis Dvornik, Moravia-born, authority on Byzantine history, Slavic history and civilization.
• Saul Friedländer, Prague-born, award-winning historian, currently a professor of history at UCLA.
• Ales Hrdlicka, founder of American physical anthropology.
• Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, of Moravian ancestry, founder of modern empirical sociology.
• Richard Neustadt, of Bohemian ancestry, political scientist at Harvard; first director of J.F. Kennedy Inst. of Politics.
• Beardsley Ruml, of Czech immigrant father, economist, devised plan to collect taxes at their source by means of a payroll deduction system, on a pay as you go basis.
• Joseph Alois Schumpeter, Moravia-born, notable economist at Harvard University.
• Jan Švejnar, Prague-born, notable economist.
• Frank William Taussig, of Czech ancestry, economist and educator, credited with creating the foundations of modern trade theory.
• René Wellek, of Czech father, founder of literary criticism and comparative literature.
• Max Wertheimer, a Czech-born psychologist who was one of the founders of Gestalt psychology.

Science & technology

• Alfred Bader, son of Czech immigrant, founder of Aldrich Chemical Company, art collector, philanthropist.
• Thomas Cech, of Czech ancestry, Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry.
• Carl Cori, Prague-born Nobel Prize laureate.
• Gerty Cori, Prague born Nobel Prize laureate.
• John C. Dvorak, of Czech ancestry, columnist and broadcaster in the areas of technology and computing.
• Abraham Flexner, son of Czech immigrant, reformer of American medical education, founder of Institute of Advanced study, Princeton.
• Simon Flexner, son of Czech immigrant, pathologist, founder and first director of the Rockefeller Institute (now University).
• Václav Hlavatý, a noted Czech-American mathematician, who solved some very difficult equations relating to Einstein's Unified field theory.
• Aleš Hrdlička, a physical anthropologist of note; founder and the first curator of physical anthropology of the U.S. National Museum.
• Josef Allen Hynek, of Czech ancestry, astronomer, professor, and ufologist.
• Karl Jansky, of Czech ancestry, discoverer of radio astronomy.
• Frederick Jelinek, pioneer of statistical methods in computational linguistics.
• Gustav Lindenthal, Brno-born, notable civil engineer who designed the Hell Gate Bridge (1917) among other bridges.
• Frank Malina, of Czech parents, aeronautical engineer who designed the first U. S. rocket to break the 50-mile altitude mark, becoming the first sounding rocket to reach space.
• Mila Rechcigl, biochemist who pioneered early studies on enzyme synthesis and degradation; one of the founders and long-time President of SVU.
• Oldrich Vasicek, mathematician, author of several financial models including Vasicek model.
• Paul Zamecnik, of Czech ancestry, a biochemist of note, who played a central role in the early history of molecular biology.
• Charles Zeleny, a Czech-American zoologist, and professor at the University of Illinois, who made important contributions to experimental zoology, especially embryology, regeneration, and genetics.

Medicine

• Jan Klein, immunologist, best known for his work on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).
• Karl Koller, Bohemia-born ophthalmologist, a discoverer of using cocaine as a local anesthetic for eye surgery.
• Karl Landsteiner, of Bohemian mother, a physician, noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups.
• Peter Safar, Austrian physician of Czech descent, who is credited with pioneering cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
• Helen Taussig, granddaughter of Czech immigrant, medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University who alerted physicians of the dangers of thalidomide

Military

• Leopold Karpeles, a Color Sergeant, recipient of Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in 1864 during the Civil War.
• William F. Lukes, US Navy sailor, a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the 1871 Korean Expedition.
• Coral Wong Pietsch, of Czech mother and Chinese father, a Brigadier General in the United States Army Reserve; the first 'Asian' American woman to reach the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Army.
• Apollo Soucek, a Vice Admiral in the US Navy, who was a record-breaking test pilot during 1929-1930.
• Henry Svehla, Army Pfc., of Czech father, awarded posthumously by President Obama a Medal of Honor for his heroic action during Korean War.
• Wilhelm D. Styer, of Bohemian ancestry, a commanding general of US Army Forces of the Western Pacific from 1945‑46, during the Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese.
• Edward David Taussig, of Bohemian ancestry, Rear Admiral US Navy; took possession of Wake Island for the US and took charge of Guam in 1899; served in the Philippines and in North China.
• Joseph Taussig, of Bohemian ancestry, Vice Admiral, participated in Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Campaign, Cuban Pacification, World War I, and Nicaraguan Campaign of 1927.

Exploration

• Eugene Cernan, of Czech mother, Astronaut; was last man of Apollo to leave his footprints on the moon.
• George John Dufek, Rear Admiral; first American at geographic South Pole in 1956.
• Anthony Fiala, of Czech parents, explorer and photographer, who, from 1903 to 1905, was in command of the Ziegler Polar Expedition.
• John Fabian (1939‑), astronaut; mission specialist abroad two shuttle flights STS-7 in June 1983 and Mission 51‑G in June 1985.
• Andrew J. (Drew) Feustel, geophysicist and astronaut; took part in STS-125 flight, lasting almost 13 days, to repair the Hubble Space Telescope; his send mission, on STS-134 flight, was the second last Space Shuttle flight.
• Jim Lovell, astronaut; was command module pilot of Apollo 8, man's first flight around the moon.

Sports & acrobatics

• Alan Benes, former Major League pitcher.
• Andy Benes, former Major League pitcher.
• Hugo Bezdek, football, basketball and baseball coach, u inductee in the college Football Hall of Fame (1954).
• George Blanda, of Czech mother, former football player.
• Amy Fadhli, fitness model 1996 (Czech mother and Iraqi father).
• George S. Halas, "Papa Bear", player-coach of the Chicago Bears.
• John Havlicek, of Czech ancestry, basketball player.
• Al Hostak, middleweight boxing champion.
• Chris Kanyon, WWE wrestler, real name was Christopher Klucsarits.
• Jessica Korda, pro golfer
• Joseph Lapchick, basketball player and coach; Original Celtics center; St. John's University and New York Knicks head coach; member of Basketball Hall of Fame
• Katie Ledecky, swimmer, 2012 Olympic 800m freestyle champion
• Ivan Lendl, tennis player.
• Evan Frank Lysacek, a figure skater; the 2010 Olympic champion and the 2009 World champion.
• Stanley Frank Musial, of Czech mother, baseball player of international fame.
• Martina Navratilova, tennis player.
• Jay Novacek, football player.
• Logan Ondrusek, baseball player.
• Ken Patera, Olympic weightlifter and professional wrestler.
• John Pesek, an American professional wrestler, known as 'The Nebraska Tiger Man'; inductee in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2005).
• Scott Podsednik, an American Major League Baseball player.
• Jack Root from Frahelz, Bohemia, an American boxer, was first-ever World Light-Heavyweight Champion and later declared also the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
• Joey Sindelar, professional golfer.
• Karl Wallenda, founder of the Flying Wallenda, with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
• Joe Nemechek, NASCAR driver, grandfather was from Praque

Recreation

• Lubomir Kavalek, chess grandmaster.
• Wilhelm Steinitz, Prague-born chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894.

Sources

• Thomas Capek, The Čechs (Bohemians) in America. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920.
• Guido Kisch, In Search of Freedom. London: Edward Goldston, 1948.
• Vera Laska, The Czechs in America 1633-1977. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1978.
• Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., US Legislators with Czechoslovak Roots. Washington, DC, SVU Press, 1987.
• Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., Czechs and Slovaks in America. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 2005.
• Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., Czech American Bibliography. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2011.