Cosma Shiva Hagen
Encyclopedia
Cosma Shiva Hagen is a German actress and the daughter of New Wave
/punk
singer Nina Hagen
and the late musician Ferdinand Karmelk. Her grandmother is actress Eva-Maria Hagen, and her step-grandfather is the East German dissident writer Wolf Biermann
. Eva-Maria Hagen was allowed to emigrate to West Germany
during the 1970s. Cosma Shiva's unusual name was picked by her mother, who claimed she saw an UFO while pregnant. "Cosma" is a reference to Cosmos
, and "Shiva" is a reference to the Hindu
God Shiva
.
Cosma Shiva is largely unknown outside of German
speaking countries. Although she speaks English
, her acting roles have been largely confined to German language films and television productions. She also starred in an Irish film called Short Order (2005) that was written and directed by Anthony Byrne.
Born in Los Angeles, California
, Cosma Shiva speaks German, English, French
and Spanish
. As a child, Cosma Shiva lived in London
, Berlin
, Paris
, Ibiza
, a boarding school in Lüneburg
and her current home, Hamburg
.
In 2009 she began collaborating with the German Fairtrade-Label armedangels
and designed her own t-shirt
to be sold online.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
singer Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer...
and the late musician Ferdinand Karmelk. Her grandmother is actress Eva-Maria Hagen, and her step-grandfather is the East German dissident writer Wolf Biermann
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
. Eva-Maria Hagen was allowed to emigrate to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
during the 1970s. Cosma Shiva's unusual name was picked by her mother, who claimed she saw an UFO while pregnant. "Cosma" is a reference to Cosmos
Cosmos
In the general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from the Greek term κόσμος , meaning "order" or "ornament" and is antithetical to the concept of chaos. Today, the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The word cosmos originates from the same root...
, and "Shiva" is a reference to the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
God Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
.
Cosma Shiva is largely unknown outside of German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
speaking countries. Although she speaks English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, her acting roles have been largely confined to German language films and television productions. She also starred in an Irish film called Short Order (2005) that was written and directed by Anthony Byrne.
Born in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Cosma Shiva speaks German, English, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. As a child, Cosma Shiva lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
, a boarding school in Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
and her current home, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
In 2009 she began collaborating with the German Fairtrade-Label armedangels
Armedangels
armedangels is a fashion label based in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 2007, the company designs a variety of apparel products made from textiles such as organic cotton and sells them via their online shop as well as in boutiques and major retails stores in six countries...
and designed her own t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
to be sold online.