List of Famous people born in Slovakia, First Czechoslovak Republic

Jan T. Vilček is a biomedical scientist, educator, inventor and philanthropist. He is a professor in the department of microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine, and chairman and CEO of The Vilcek Foundation. Vilček, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, received his M.D. degree from Comenius University Medical School, Bratislava in 1957; and his Ph.D. in Virology from the Institute of Virology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1962. In 1964, Vilček, with his wife Marica, defected from Communist Czechoslovakia during a three-day visit to Vienna. In 1965, the Vilčeks immigrated to the United States, and have since lived in New York City. Vilček devoted his scientific career to studies of soluble mediators that regulate the immune system (cytokines), including interferon and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

Marcel Hossa is a Slovak former professional ice hockey left winger. Hossa previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes, having been drafted by the Canadiens in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Ivan Gašparovič is a Slovak politician and lawyer who was President of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected.

Michal Martikán is a Slovak slalom canoeist who has been competing at the international level since 1994. In 1996 he became the first athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for Slovakia since the country gained independence in 1993. In total he won 5 Olympic medals, which is the most among all slalom paddlers. He has also won the World Championship title in the C1 individual category four times. He is considered by many the greatest C1 slalom paddler alive.

Martin Skotnický is a Slovak ice dancing coach and former competitor for Czechoslovakia. With his sister, Diana Skotnická, he is the 1970 Winter Universiade champion and a five-time Czechoslovak national champion (1970–74). They placed sixth at the 1973 European Championships.

Dušan Uhrin is a Czech and Slovak football coach and former player. He was the coach of Slovan Bratislava. Although he was born in the Nitra District in the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, he has lived in Prague since the age of 16.

František Hossa is a Slovak former ice hockey player and the current head coach of Spartak Moscow of the KHL. Both his sons, Marián and Marcel, are professional ice hockey players. As of 2002, he is also the assistant coach of the Slovakia men's national ice hockey team.

Gabriela Svobodová is a former Czechoslovak cross-country skier who competed during the 1970s until 1984. She won a silver medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and a bronze medal in the same event at the 1974 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.