# Anton Jelinek — My Ántonia character guide

> Anton Jelinek in My Ántonia by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Tony, Anton Jelinek, Jelinek, young Jelinek, Handsome Anton Jelinek, Tony Shimerda

**First appearance:** 0007-iii

## Snapshot

A young Bohemian neighbor whose cousin marries Ántonia, embodying the immigrant network that quietly stitches the prairie together.

## Who they are

Anton belongs to the web of Bohemian families — Shimerdas, Cuzaks, Jelineks — whose kinship and mutual aid sustain newcomers on the Nebraska divide. His connection to Ántonia's future husband ties him to the question of what her life will become after Jim leaves Black Hawk. For a reader tracing how immigrant communities endure, Anton is a small but telling thread in the fabric of the novel's later years.

## Relationships

### [Lena Lingard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/lena_lingard)

_romantic_

Anton Jelinek is a suitor of Lena, showing romantic interest in her, though she does not reciprocate seriously.

### [Ántonia Shimerda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/antonia_shimerda)

_friendship_

Anton Jelinek is a friendly acquaintance and fellow immigrant who respects Ántonia and her family.

### [Ántonia Shimerda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/antonia_shimerda)

_friendship_

Anton Jelinek is a friendly acquaintance and fellow immigrant who respects Ántonia and her family.

### [Lena Lingard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/lena_lingard)

_romantic_

Anton Jelinek is a suitor of Lena, showing romantic interest in her, though she does not reciprocate seriously.

### [Lena Lingard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/lena_lingard)

_romantic_

Anton Jelinek is a suitor of Lena, showing romantic interest in her, though she does not reciprocate seriously.

## In the story

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/xv)

Helps break a road to the Shimerdas' and explains the possible Bohemian custom of burying suicides at crossroads.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/xii)

Proprietor of a saloon in Black Hawk, known for his hospitality to Bohemian and German farmers.

### [Book V: Cuzak's Boys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/book-v-cuzak-s-boys)

Mentioned as Ántonia's husband, a kind and hardworking man who shares her life on the farm.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/ii)

Cuzak's cousin, who lent him money for the wedding ring.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/iii)

Jim spends time with him under a cottonwood tree behind his saloon.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters/anton_jelinek
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/characters