Alexander Roda Roda

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameAlexander Friedrich Ladislaus•Roda Roda (Rosenfeld-)
Used nameAlexander•Roda Roda
Born13 April 1872 in Drnovice, Jihomoravský kraj (CZE)
Died20 August 1945 in New York, New York (USA)
NOC Austria

Biography

Alexander Roda Roda, born as Sándor Friedrich Rosenfeld in what was then Austro-Hungary, was married to Baroness Elsbeth von Zeppelin (1882-1960). His family name was changed early to Roda (Croatian for stork) in order to get rid of the Jewish name Rosenfeld. As a teenager, together with his sister Marie (1875-1935), he wrote novels published under the double name Roda Roda. In 1900, his first works appeared in the Simplicissimus.

Roda Roda first studied law at the University of Vienna (Wien), but then served in the military for 12 years, beginning in 1893, leaving the service due to several disciplinary problems. His trademark for decades was a red tailored vest made from a red skirt lining, which he wore in almost all his numerous cabaret appearances.

In World War I, Roda Roda worked as a war correspondent, but he later wrote cabaret pieces. In the Nazi dictatorship he sympathized with Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938), which is why he emigrated to Switzerland after Hitler came to power. In 1940 Roda Roda was asked to leave the country and he moved to the US, where he died from leukemia in 1945.

The novella Polo is a love story from the milieu of polo sports. It first appeared in 1939 in 17 episodes in the “Pariser Tageszeitung”, a daily edited by emigres in Paris. As a book, it first appeared in 1980.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1936 Summer Olympics Art Competitions AUT Alexander Roda Roda
Literature, Epic Works, Open (Olympic) AC