Slovak Americans

Slovak Americans are Americans of Slovak descent. In the 1990 Census Slovak Americans made up the third-largest portion of Slavic ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak descent living in the United States.

History

Eighteenth century

Isaacus Ferdinand Sharoshi was the first known immigrant from the territory of present-day Slovakia, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sharoshi arrived in the religious colony of Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded by Mennonite preacher Francis Daniel Pastorius, to serve as a teacher and a preacher. Sharoshi apparently returned to Europe after two years. In 1754, Andreas Jelik, an ethnic German from the village of Baja, left the Kingdom of Hungary to train as a tailor. After some travel in Europe, he eventually reached South American shores, via the West Indies, on a Dutch trading ship.

After being proclaimed emperor in Madagascar, and bearing letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin and funds from a descendant of Ferdinand Magellan, Maurice Benyovszky whose origin is regarded as a Slovak, as a Hungarian, and as a Pole depending on sources, came to America and fought with American troops in the War for Independence. He joined a cavalry corps led by General Pulaski and fought in the siege of Savannah. He died in Madagascar in 1786, but his wife, Zuzana Honsch, spent the years from 1784 until her death in 1815 in the United States.