# Mr. Shimerda — My Ántonia character guide

> Mr. Shimerda in My Ántonia by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Mr. Shimerda, Old Mr. Shimerda, XVI Mr. Shimerda, poor Mr. Shimerda, Mr. ¬ÝShimerda

**First appearance:** 0006-ii

## Snapshot

Ántonia's father, a gentle, educated Bohemian who cannot survive the prairie's brutal indifference to the life of the mind he left behind.

## Who they are

A former weaver and musician in Bohemia, Mr. Shimerda arrives in Nebraska already broken by the loss of his old world and finds nothing in the new one to replace it. He is tender toward his children and grateful for Jim's friendship, but his wife's hardness and the family's grinding poverty leave him with no place to put his grief. His fate shapes the novel's emotional center, teaching Jim — and the reader — what the prairie costs the people it cannot use.

## In the story

### [My Ántonia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/my-ntonia)

Ántonia's father, a sensitive and homesick immigrant struggling to adapt to prairie life.

### [Book I: The Shimerdas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/book-i-the-shimerdas)

Ántonia's father, a melancholic and proud man struggling with the hardships of immigrant life.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/i)

The tall, stooped old man in the immigrant family at the station.

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

A dignified, melancholy man who was a skilled weaver; he entreats grandmother to teach Ántonia English.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/v)

Discovers the Russians and visits them almost every evening, sometimes bringing Ántonia.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/vi)

Appears ill and listless, but shows warmth toward Ántonia and promises Jim his gun.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/viii)

Visits Pavel with his daughter, hears the confession, and is depressed by the loss of his Russian friends.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/x)

Explains the family's financial losses and plans for a new house in spring, showing dignity despite hardship.

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

Visits the Burdens to thank them, finds solace in their home, kneels before the Christmas tree, and departs with a blessing.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/xiii)

Mentioned as being unwell and sad, no longer playing his violin.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/xiv)

Found dead by suicide; Jim imagines his spirit resting in the Burden house.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/xvi)

Lies dead in the barn for four days; his body is frozen fast to the ground and is cut loose for burial.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_antonia_se/chapters/iv)

Ántonia says he is still real to her and she consults him.

## Links

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