In Memoriam: Otto Jelinek, Prague-born Canadian politician and skating world champion

Otto Jelinek, who was born in Prague but spent almost all of his life in Canada, has died at the age of 86. Jelinek was a world champion figure skater for Canada, became a government minister – and later in life served as his adopted country’s ambassador to the Czech Republic.

The Jelinek family had had a successful business in Czechoslovakia producing corks and beer bottle tops for European markets. But, as Otto Jelinek recounted, they joined the exodus to the West following the Communist coup of 1948, when he was eight years old.

“My father organised with… to this day we can’t say which South American diplomat, but with a South American diplomat, to escape in a diplomatic car – which is ironic, me being an ambassador now – across the border into Austria. We kids thought we were going on a picnic to Austria and returning the same day. Because we went with no luggage, with no toys. We went to a picnic in Vienna, but my father kept driving right through Austria till we got to Switzerland.”

Otto and Marie Jelinek (1962)|Photo: ČTK

After a year in Lausanne, the Jelineks moved to Canada, where Otto and his sister Maria excelled as figure skaters and represented their new country together.

When it was announced that the 1962 World Championships would be in Communist-controlled Prague, their father tried, in vain, to dissuade the siblings from taking part.

Otto Jelinek said it was one of the most emotional experiences of his life.

“Of course we skated to Czech music: Smetana and Dvořák. When it came to the main performance, the stadium was packed. They had standing only so they could fit 19,000 people into the old stadium. And the 19,000 people went crazy. We won the gold medal for Canada. But with our hearts we also skated for Czechoslovakia.”

Mr. Jelinek was also successful in his next venture as a skating goods manufacturer.

Otto Jelinek|Photo: Michal Doležal, ČTK

That was followed by a notable political career with the Progressive Conservative Party that included ministerial positions.

In the 1990s, Otto Jelinek returned to his native Prague, becoming chairman of Deloitte Czech Republic and then Deloitte Central Europe.

In 2013, his story gained yet another remarkable turn, when he was named ambassador to Czechia. And it was at Canada’s Embassy in Prague 6 that I asked him to compare his “two nations”.

“Canadians are innovative. They’ve invented a lot of things, from the telephone to field hockey, if I should use a sports reference [laughs]. So have the Czechs – from contact lenses to robots and everything in between...Someone asked me what the dissimilarities are. I think that Czechs are not as optimistic as the Canadians. When they see a half full glass, Canadians tend to say it’s half full, whereas Czechs tend to say it’s half empty. But that’s changing.”

Otto Jelinek died on Saturday in the Canadian city of Mississauga at the age of 86.