Many people on this list are not ethnically Czech but rather born in
Bohemian/
Moravian 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.
Business
Fred Figner, Bohemiam-born entrepreneur with North-American citizenship, coming from a Jewish family, pioneer of music recording in Brazil and South America, pioneer of record manufacturing, a great trader of writing machines in Brazil, a spiritist writer and supporter of
Alan Kardec's religion/phylosophy and a great philanthropist.[1]
Miles J. Breuer, trained as physician, an early science fiction writer
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
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, born St. Louis, Missouri, 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, born St. Louis, Missouri, 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.
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
James Asheton Bayard (III),[11][12] desc. of Augustine Herman, an American lawyer who served as U.S. Senator from Delaware.
Richard Henry Bayard,[13][14] 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.,[15][16] 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.
John Forbes Kerry,[24][25][26][27][28] 68th United States Secretary of State and the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election.
Edmund Jennings Randolph,[35][36] 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[37][38] was member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin and 2016 candidate for President of the United States
Caspar Weinberger[45] 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.
Humanities and 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.
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.
Frank William Taussig, of Czech ancestry, economist and educator, credited with creating the foundations of modern trade theory.
Vlasta Vraz, of Czech ancestry, worked for Czech war relief and other Czech causes in Prague and US
René Wellek, of Czech father, founder of literary criticism and comparative literature.
Max Wertheimer, Czech-born psychologist who was one of the founders of Gestalt psychology.
Law
Louis D. Brandeis, son of Czech immigrant, Justice of US Supreme Court.
Paul Freund, of Bohemian ancestry, [citation needed] 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.
Maria Jeritza (orig. Marie Jedlickova), born Brno, Moravia, a famed Metropolitan Opera singer, known for her role as Sieglinda, Elisabeth, Santuzza, Fedora, Rosalinda, Carmen, Salome, Octavius, Tosca and Turandot
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.
Meyer Berger, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and columnist for The New York Times.
Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski, of Czech mother, TV news journalist at MSNBC, co-host of MSNBC's weekday morning program Morning Joe.
Wanda Jablonski, Polish immigrant born in Moravia (now Czech Rep.), journalist that founded Petroleum Intelligence Weekly in 1961, which came to be known as the "bible of the oil industry", and ran it until 1988.
Janet Malcolm, journalist, New Yorker staff writer, born in Prague.
Edward Rosewater, founder of the daily The Omaha Daily Bee which developed into the largest and most influential newspaper on the mid-west.
Mike Stoklasa, cofounder of
Red Letter Media and announcer of many of its videos about films. His great-grandparents were Václav Stoklasa from
Chotusice and Josefa Brčková from
Jestřebice [
cs].[51]
Rosa Sonneschein,[52] born in Prostejov, Moravia, founder and editor of The American Jewess magazine – the first English-language periodical targeted to American Jewish women.
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, 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.
Pioneer colonists
Joachim Gans[53] from Prague, metallurgist, member of the first English colonization effort in America (Roanoke, 1585)
Augustine Herman[54][55][56][57][58] one of the earliest immigrants in America from Bohemia; creator of first accurate map of Maryland and Virginia
Frederick Philipse[59][60][61] descendant of Bohemian aristocratic family, wealthiest person in New Amsterdam (New York)
Religion
Petr Esterka[62][63] Bishop for Czech Catholics in Diaspora in Canada and the United States (1999–2021) and auxiliary bishop of
Brno (1999–2013).
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.
James Pustejovsky, Czech-American computer scientist specializing in theoretical and computational modeling of language.
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, Czech-American zoologist, and professor at the University of Illinois, who made important contributions to experimental zoology, especially embryology, regeneration, and genetics.
Jack Root[72] from Frahelz, Bohemia, an American boxer, was first-ever World Light-Heavyweight Champion and later declared also the Heavyweight Champion of the World
Blake Schilb, basketball player for the Czech national team by marriage
Charles Demuth, of Moravian ancestry, an artist; a notable painter who had major influence on American art by the 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, notable American illustrator and author of Bohemian descent
^Marks, Stephen M. (June 9, 2004).
"Philanthropist Makes Fortune on 'Rollup' Concept". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 5 August 2012. [uncle]...Ledecky has come a long way from his working class childhood. He was the son of a Czech immigrant who came in 1947 to study English at Rutgers..
^Blair, Tom (November 2008).
"Dialogue: Jason Mraz". San Diego Magazine. Archived from
the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
^International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Émigrés 1933–1945. New York – London – Paris: K. G. Saur, 1983, Vol. II/Part 1: A-L-, p. 1148.
^Thomas Capek, Augustine Herrman of Bohemia Manor. Praha: State Printing Office, 1930
^Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., "Augustine Herman Bohemiensis", Kosmas, Journal of Czechoslovak and Central European Studies 3 (Summer 1984), p. 139-146
^Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., "Descendants of Augustine Herman, the First Lord of Bohemia Manor: The First Three Generations and Beyond." Maryland Genealogical Bulletin 29, No. 3 (Summer 1988): 276–99.
^Thomas Capek, Ancestry of Frederick Philipse: First Lord and Founder of Philipse Manor at Yonkers, N. Y. New York: The Paebar Co., 1939; William Jay, The Life of John Jay : with selection of his correspondence and miscellaneous papers. New York: J. & J Harper, 1833
^Frederick Philipse Family Tree. An Aristocratic Family from Bohemia:Rootsweb Entry
^Marks, Stephen M. (June 9, 2004).
"Philanthropist Makes Fortune on 'Rollup' Concept". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 5 August 2012. [uncle]...Ledecky has come a long way from his working class childhood. He was the son of a Czech immigrant who came in 1947 to study English at Rutgers..
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.
Rechcigl, Miloslav Jr. (2013). Czech American Timeline: Chronology of Milestones in the History of Czechs in America. Bloomington, Indiana: Author House.
ISBN978-1-4817-5706-5.