List of Famous people born in Žilina region, First Czechoslovak Republic

Peter Colotka was a Slovak academic, lawyer and politician. He was the prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1988.

Marian Kočner is a Slovak businessman and convicted criminal. With business dealings mostly in the spheres of risk investment, financial development and property, his name appeared in leaked police documents known as the "mafia lists" in 2005, of a list of people suspected of involvement in organized crime and their vehicles, for use of police patrols. Since 10 December 2019 he has been included in the global Magnitsky sanctions list.

Emília Vášáryová, Doctor Artis Dramaticae (hon.) is a Slovak stage and screen actress, referred to as the "First Lady of Slovak Theater". During her over five decades long career, she has received numerous awards including the Meritorious Artist (1978), Alfréd Radok Award (1996), Czech Lion Award Golden Goblet Award (2008), and most recently the honorary degree Doctor Artis Dramaticae Honoris Causa (2010) as the only female to date, and ELSA (2010). While her sister is former diplomat Magdaléna Vášáryová, Czech media regards her as an "Honorary Consul of Czech and Slovak Relations".

Vladimír Weiss was a Czechoslovak football defender and coach. He won the Olympic silver medal for Czechoslovakia at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Jozef Kroner was a Slovak actor. His brother Ľudovít Kroner, daughter Zuzana Kronerová, and wife Terézia Hurbanová-Kronerová were also actors. He starred in the Oscar-winning film The Shop on Main Street, and in more than 50 other Slovak films, as well as in several Czech, Bulgarian and Hungarian productions. He never studied acting; his career started in amateur theater troupes.

Vlasta Průchová was a Czech jazz singer. From the second half of the 1940s, she gradually built up her leading position in the Czech jazz scene. Průchová was the mother of the renowned Czech-American pianist and composer Jan Hammer.

Radoslav Brzobohatý was a Czech film and television actor.

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.

Milan Hodža was a Slovak politician and journalist, serving from 1935 to 1938 as the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia. As a proponent of regional integration, he was known for his attempts to establish a democratic federation of Central European states.