The Most Famous
RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Slovakia
This page contains a list of the greatest Slovak Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 3,187 Religious Figures, 9 of which were born in Slovakia. This makes Slovakia the birth place of the 39th most number of Religious Figures behind Lithuania, and Argentina.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Slovak Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Slovak Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Slovak Religious Figures.
1. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207 - 1231)
With an HPI of 73.71, Elizabeth of Hungary is the most famous Slovak Religious Figure. Her biography has been translated into 53 different languages on wikipedia.
Elizabeth of Hungary (German: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, Hungarian: Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, Slovak: Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her husband's death, she regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death in 1231 at the age of 24 and was canonized on 25 May 1235. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was an early member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and is today honored as its patroness.
2. Matthew III Csák (1260 - 1321)
With an HPI of 59.45, Matthew III Csák is the 2nd most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Máté Csák or Matthew III Csák (between 1260 and 1265 – 18 March 1321; Hungarian: Csák (III.) Máté, Slovak: Matúš Čák III), also Máté Csák of Trencsén (Hungarian: trencséni Csák (III.) Máté, Slovak: Matúš Čák III Trenčiansky), was a Hungarian oligarch who ruled de facto independently the north-western counties of Medieval Hungary (today roughly the western half of present-day Slovakia and parts of Northern Hungary). He held the offices of master of the horse (főlovászmester) (1293–1296), palatine (nádor) (1296–1297, 1302–1309) and master of the treasury (tárnokmester) (1309–1311). He was able to maintain his rule over his territories even after his defeat at the Battle of Rozgony against King Charles I of Hungary. In the 19th century, he was often described as a symbol of the struggle for independence in both the Hungarian and Slovak literatures.
3. Jozef Tomko (1924 - 2022)
With an HPI of 57.43, Jozef Tomko is the 3rd most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Jozef Tomko (11 March 1924 – 8 August 2022) was a Slovak prelate of the Catholic Church who held positions in the Roman Curia from 1962 until he retired in 2007. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 1985 to 2001 and president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses from 2001 to 2007. He was made a cardinal in 1985.
4. Juraj Haulik (1788 - 1869)
With an HPI of 52.96, Juraj Haulik is the 4th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Juraj Haulik de Váralya (Slovak: Juraj Haulík Váralyai, Hungarian: Haulík Váralyai György; 20 April 1788 – 11 May 1869) was a Croatian cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church of Slovak ethnicity and the first archbishop of Zagreb. He was also acting ban of Croatia for two separate terms.
5. Anna Kolesárová (1928 - 1944)
With an HPI of 51.85, Anna Kolesárová is the 5th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Anna Kolesárová (14 July 1928 – 22 November 1944) was a Slovak Roman Catholic virgin and a martyr. Her life was cut short in 1944 when a Soviet soldier killed her after she resisted his rape attempt. Those who knew her best described her as being a modest and simple girl who attended Mass each morning and assumed care of the household following her mother's death in her late childhood. Kolesárová's beatification process opened in 2004 and she became titled as a Servant of God upon the cause's launch. The process culminated on 6 March 2018 after Pope Francis confirmed both that she had died in defensum castitatis ("in defense of chastity") and her forthcoming beatification. The beatification was celebrated on 1 September 2018 in Slovakia.
6. Pavel Peter Gojdič (1888 - 1960)
With an HPI of 51.76, Pavel Peter Gojdič is the 6th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Pavel Peter Gojdič (also known as Pavol Gojdič or Peter Gojdič; 17 July 1888 — 17 July 1960), was a Rusyn Basilian monk and the eparch of the Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy of Prešov. Following the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, he was arrested by the StB, the secret police of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, and imprisoned on charges of high treason. Despite promises of immediate release if he would agree to become patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia, Gojdič died at Leopoldov Prison as a prisoner of conscience in 1960. Following the 1989 Velvet Revolution, Gojdič was posthumously honoured by post-communist Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel and beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001. For his role in saving 1500 Jewish lives during the Holocaust in Slovakia, Bishop Gojdič was posthumously honoured as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 2007.
7. Ján Chryzostom Korec (1924 - 2015)
With an HPI of 51.19, Ján Chryzostom Korec is the 7th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Ján Chryzostom Korec, SJ (22 January 1924 – 24 October 2015) was a Slovak Jesuit priest and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was ordained as a priest in 1950 and consecrated as a bishop in 1951. Because of the government's suppression of the Catholic Church, he spent 39 years working as a priest without government authorisation, either in prison or by supporting himself as a labourer. In 1990, Pope John Paul II named him Bishop of Nitra and in 1991 named him a cardinal. Korec retired in 2005 and died in 2015.
8. János Csernoch (1852 - 1927)
With an HPI of 50.76, János Csernoch is the 8th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
János Csernoch (Slovak: Ján Černoch) S.T.D. (18 June 1852 – 25 July 1927) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary. János Csernoch was born in Szakolcza, Kingdom of Hungary (now Skalica, Slovakia). He received minor orders on 22 July 1874, the subdiaconate on 23 July 1874 and the diaconate on 24 July 1874. He was educated at the Collegium Pázmáneum in Vienna and the University of Vienna, where he earned a doctorate in theology on 2 June 1876. In spite of his Slovak ethnic origin and family relations to several Slovak national activists his attitude to the Slovak national movement was ambivalent. He financially supported some Slovak activities and published articles in Slovak newspapers but after 1910 he supported the integrity of the Kingdom of Hungary. To date, he is the last Archbishop of Esztergom to have crowned a King of Hungary.
9. János Scitovszky (1785 - 1866)
With an HPI of 49.53, János Scitovszky is the 9th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
János Keresztély Scitovszky de Nagykér (Hungarian: nagykéri Scitovszky János Keresztély; Slovak: Ján Krstiteľ Scitovský; 1 November 1785 – 19 October 1866) was a Hungarian prelate, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary.
10. Ján Babjak (b. 1953)
With an HPI of 46.00, Ján Babjak is the 10th most famous Slovak Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Ján Babjak, S.J. (born 28 October 1953, in Hažín nad Cirochou) is Slovak Greek Catholic prelate and a first Archieparch of Prešov, previously serving as the 10th Bishop, and the highest representative of the Greek Catholic sui iuris Church in Slovakia.
People
Pantheon has 11 people classified as Slovak religious figures born between 1207 and 1953. Of these 11, 1 (9.09%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Slovak religious figures include Ján Babjak. The most famous deceased Slovak religious figures include Elizabeth of Hungary, Matthew III Csák, and Jozef Tomko. As of April 2024, 2 new Slovak religious figures have been added to Pantheon including János Scitovszky, and Laurus Škurla.
Living Slovak Religious Figures
Go to all RankingsDeceased Slovak Religious Figures
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Elizabeth of Hungary
1207 - 1231
HPI: 73.71
Matthew III Csák
1260 - 1321
HPI: 59.45
Jozef Tomko
1924 - 2022
HPI: 57.43
Juraj Haulik
1788 - 1869
HPI: 52.96
Anna Kolesárová
1928 - 1944
HPI: 51.85
Pavel Peter Gojdič
1888 - 1960
HPI: 51.76
Ján Chryzostom Korec
1924 - 2015
HPI: 51.19
János Csernoch
1852 - 1927
HPI: 50.76
János Scitovszky
1785 - 1866
HPI: 49.53
Laurus Škurla
1928 - 2008
HPI: 45.65
Newly Added Slovak Religious Figures (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Religious Figures were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 8 most globally memorable Religious Figures since 1700.
