RODA RODA, ALEXANDER

RODA RODA, ALEXANDER (Sándor Friedrich Rosenfeld ; 1872–1945), Austrian author and humorist. Born in Zdenci, Slavonia, he was the son of a Jewish landowner and of a non-Jewess. From 1892 Roda Roda was an officer in the Imperial Austrian army, but was dishonorably discharged 10 years later because of his unacceptable opinions. He then became a journalist and, as a roving foreign correspondent, traveled through Western Europe, serving on the Austrian front during World War i. He worked in the U.S.S.R. and other countries until 1933, when he severed his connection with the German-language press, and in 1939 emigrated to the U.S., where he remained until his death.

A prolific writer of comedies, satirical novels, and short stories, Roda Roda contributed to humorous magazines such as the Simplizissimus of Munich and was an outstanding exponent of the Viennese comic art. He excelled in lampooning the old Hapsburg Kaiserreich and is best remembered for Der Feldherrnhuegel (1910), a comedy about the Austrian officer caste written in collaboration with Carl *Roessler which was suppressed by government censors. His other works include Der Schnaps, der Rauchtabak und die verfluchte Liebe (1908), a best-selling novel; the autobiographical Roda Rodas Roman (1925, 1950²); Die Panduren (1935); and Die rote Weste (1945). He edited, in collaboration, a six-volume anthology of world humor (1910–11); and a collected edition of his works, in three volumes, appeared in 1932–34.