Roda Roda

Alexander Friedrich Ladislaus Roda Roda (13 April 1872 – 20 August 1945) was an Austrian writer and satirist.

Biography

Roda Roda was born as Šandor Friedrich Rosenfeld in Drnowitz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Drnovice, Czech Republic). His sister was the physician Gisela Januszewska. As a child, he moved with his family to Slavonia. He Germanized his name from Šandor to Alexander, and his surname from Rosenfeld to Roda Roda. Roda is the Croatian word for stork. He chose his new surname because storks nested on the chimney of his house in Esseg (today Osijek).

In 1894, Roda Roda converted from Judaism to Catholicism. In 1902, Roda Roda quit the military career and became a journalist (during World War I he was war correspondent); he contributed to the German satirical magazine Simplicissimus. In 1938, he emigrated to the US. He wrote many comedies (Der König von Crucina, 1892; Bubi, 1912, with Gustav Meyrink), tales and novels (Soldatengeschichten, 2 volumes, 1904; Der Ehegarten, 1913, Der Schnaps, der Rauchtabak und die verfluchte Liebe, 1908; Die Panduren, 1935), and autobiographical books (Irrfahrten eines Humoristen 1914–1919, 1920; Roda Rodas Roman, 1925). He died in New York City.

In 1911 Roda Roda published a series of articles for the Neue Freie Presse, one of Austria's most respected newspapers. Between 1914 and 1917, he produced nearly 700 articles as war correspondent for the paper as well as the German-language newspaper published in Budapest, Pester Lloyd. In the 1920s, Roda Roda's humorous and satirical book publications were largely successful. He appeared in cabarets, traveled extensively, and had contact with dozens of authors, actors, filmmakers, and other artists of his milieu. His work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.