# Cornelli — Character guide

> Key figures in Cornelli by Johanna Spyri.

- [Cornelli Hellmut](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/cornelli_hellmut.md): A motherless girl at Iller Stream who would rather muck out the stable than embroider, and who answers every scolding with a fury she can barely hold.
- [Dino Halm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/dino_halm.md): A bedridden boy with apple-red cheeks and a shelf of comic books, who reads Cornelli's bitterness so accurately that he becomes the first person she cannot dismiss.
- [Martha Wolf](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/martha_wolf.md): The old housekeeper whose carnation pots and patient questions keep a door open for Cornelli when the rest of the household has shut its own.
- [Mux](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/mux.md): A small boy who clings to Cornelli's skirts and clamors at Dino's door, wanting her attention all to himself and sulking loudly when he loses it.
- [Agnes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/agnes.md): A girl with a songbook and a quick ear who discovers Cornelli's bell-clear voice and immediately starts planning duets, festivals, and a life of shared music.
- [Esther](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/esther.md): A servant of long standing at the Hellmut house, named by a departing governess as one of the 'old house-rats' she could not tolerate.
- [Mr. Hellmut](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/mr_hellmut.md): Mr. Hellmut runs the iron foundry and the household at Iller-Stream with the same exacting discipline, and his shy, unruly Cornelli is a daily reproach he does not know how to answer. Watching Mrs. Halm's bright, well-ma
- [Nika Halm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/nika_halm.md): A member of the Halm family, possibly Dino's relative.
- [Miss Mina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/miss_mina.md): A governess or teacher in the Hellmut household.
- [Matthew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/matthew.md): An elderly servant or worker on the estate.
- [Miss Kitty Dorner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/miss_kitty_dorner.md): Miss Dorner arrives to oversee Cornelli's upbringing and promptly turns the house into a court of manners, accusing the child of trampling the sofa and threatening punishment for her tomboyish tricks. She is certain of h
- [Mrs. Halm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/mrs_halm.md): Mrs. Halm meets Director Hellmut with such gentle courtesy that he grants her request almost before she finishes it, and she quietly instructs her children to say nothing about Cornelli's strange hair. Her home, full of 
- [Frederick Hellmut](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/frederick_hellmut.md): A relative of Cornelli, possibly a cousin or brother.
- [Miss Grindelen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/miss_grindelen.md): A strict teacher or governess who instructs Cornelli.
- [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/mother.md): A maternal figure, possibly referring to Mrs. Halm or Cornelli's memory.
- [Father](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters/father.md): Generic term for Cornelli's father, Mr. Hellmut.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cornelli_se/characters