List of Slovak Americans
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| By US state |
| By ethnicity |
This is a list of notable Slovak Americans, 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. Some of this list might be have Slovak immigrants ancestors of German, or Hungarian, or Romans descents.
List
Artisans
- Jan Bogdan - a Slovak artisan, was one of the first Slovak Americans in the Americas, arriving in Jamestown, Virginia on September 25, 1608[1] on the sailing ship "Godspeed",[1] in response to a plea by Captain John Smith to his London agents for craftsmen to help build the first English colony in the Americas.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] While in Jamestown, Jan Bogdan helped save the life of Captain John Smith[1] "during a surprise attack from the local Indians"[6][7][11] (also noted in "Smith's own journals").[2][12] Later, on June 30, 1619, Bogdan and others conducted the first labor strike[2] (first "in American history"[7]) for democratic rights ("No Vote, No Work")[7][12] in Jamestown.[12][13] When the British Crown overturned the legislation by the Virginia House of Burgesses and granted the workers equal voting rights on July 21, 1619,[14] the labor strike was ended and work was resumed.[2][15][13][16][17]
Arts, culture, and entertainment
- Jon Bon Jovi – rock musician, singer, songwriter and actor (paternal grandmother of Slovak descent)
- David Boreanaz – actor (mother was half Slovak descent)
- Robert Capa - war photographer and photojournalist
- Jim Caviezel – film actor (paternal grandmother of Slovak descent)[18]
- Scarlett Chorvat - film and television actress
- Laco Déczi (Ladislav Déči) - is a Slovak-American jazz trumpeter and composer, leader of Jazz Celula New York
- Steve Ditko – comic book artist and writer, co-creator of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
- Moritz Fuerst – artist employed with United States Mint in the 19th century
- Dave Grohl - rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film director, of part Slovak descent
- Angelina Jolie – actress, former fashion model and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency- daughter of Jon Voight, paternal grandfather of Slovak descent
- Justin Jedlica - "human ken doll"
- Peter Lorre – actor
- Pola Negri – actress, her father, Jerzy Chalupec, was a Slovak immigrant
- Paul Newman – actor and film director (his maternal grandparents were Slovak)[19][20]
- John Ondrasik - musician, performing as "Five for Fighting"
- Ivan Reitman – film director
- Robert Urich – actor
- Jon Voight – actor - Voight's paternal grandfather was a Slovak immigrant from Košice and Voight's paternal grandmother had also of Slovak descent
- Andy Warhol – artist
- James Warhola – artist
- Matt Wayne – illusionist
Business
- John Dopyera – inventor, entrepreneur
- John D. Hertz – businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist[21]
- iJustine – Internet Blogger
Law and politics
- Michael Badnarik – software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host
- William T. Dzurilla, international attorney and law clerk to Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court
- Carolyn Forché – professor, poet, editor, and human rights advocate
- Dennis "DJ" Mikolay - syndicated political columnist
- Michael Novak – philosopher, diplomat
- Vincent Obsitnik – diplomat
- Tom Ridge – Republican, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania and 1st Secretary of United States Department of Homeland Security.
- Joe Sestak – US Representative, Democrat, Pennsylvania 7th District; retired US Naval vice-admiral
- Mark Singel – 28th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania[citation needed]
- Judy Baar Topinka – Republican politician in Illinois
- Jesse Ventura – 38th Governor of Minnesota, wrestler, television personality
- Pete Visclosky – U.S. Representative for Indiana's 1st congressional district
Military
- Štefan Banič – constructer of the parachute-like device which he donated to US army, but was not used
- Eugene Cernan – retired United States Navy officer and a former NASA astronaut involved in the Apollo program (Slovak father)
- Matej Kocak - Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. Double Medal of Honor recipient in World War I.
- Richard Marcinko – U.S. Navy SEAL and Founder of SEAL Team 6
- Michael Strank – Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. Famous for Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
Religion
- Joseph Victor Adamec – bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
- David A. Bednar - Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
- Teresa Demjanovich – Roman Catholic nun
- John Hardon – priest, author, theologian, community leader
- Thomas Hopko – Orthodox Christian theologian
- Jaroslav Pelikan – Scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology and medieval intellectual history
Science and medicine
- John Dopyera – inventor of the resonator acoustic guitar
- Mike Fincke – NASA astronaut- International Space Station Commander
- Daniel Carleton Gajdusek – Nobel Prize winner for discovery of viruses with prolonged incubation periods
- Ivan Alexander Getting – Electrical engineer inventor of GPS
- Jozef Murgaš – inventor, architect, botanist, painter, US patriot, and Roman Catholic priest.
- Douglas D. Osheroff – physicist
- Hugh David Politzer - physicist, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics
- Ján Vilček – biomedical scientist, educator, inventor and philanthropist.He is currently a professor in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine and President of The Vilcek Foundation
Sports
- Chuck Bednarik – former professional American football player for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.
- Jeff Bzdelik – basketball coach at Wake Forest University
- Andy Kosco – former baseball player
- Jack Kralick – former pitcher for Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians.
- Leslie Krichko - Olympic skiier
- Johnny Kucab – pitcher for Philadelphia Athletics in 1940s and 1950s.
- Pete Latzo – boxer
- Stan Mikita – professional ice hockey player
- Kelly Pavlik – undefeated WBO/World Boxing Council middleweight boxing champion.[22]
- George Shuba – former outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers.[23]
- Paul Stastny – professional ice hockey player
- Peter Stastny – professional ice hockey player
- Yan Stastny – professional ice hockey player
- Elmer Valo – Slovak-American right fielder, coach and scout in Major League Baseball
- Jason Varitek- Former captain and catcher for Boston Red Sox (1997-2011)
See also
References
2