Kauka Komikosmos

Alexandra Kauka

When Alexandra Kauka opened an art gallery in Munich, she never thought that drawings would determine her future life, after all she wanted to study archaeology. Yet, at dinner party with business friends, she met Rolf Kauka, who proposed to her two days later. They were married the same year. In 1973, because of health reasons, Rolf Kauka sold his publishing company (among others Fix & Foxi, Bussi Baer), keeping all rights to his characters. As his publishing company`s successor organization, Rolf Kauka founded Promedia, Inc., making his wife Alexandra Kauka Managing Director, while leaving the creative aspects of the business to himself. In 1980, doctors recommendations to move to a place where the climate was moderate and the weather stable, prompted Alexandra and Rolf Kauka to relocate to Georgia, in the United States.
In Georgia, they restored the "Chinquapin-Plantation", one of the most beautiful plantations from the pioneer age. Since Rolf Kauka`s death, on September 13, 2000, Alexandra Kauka has been running the business of Promedia, Inc. alone.
She supported by a competent team, continuing the life`s work of her late husband. She is the editor-in-chief of the new Fix & Foxi Comic Magazine and - in the tradition of her husband - she is writing the editorial "Dear Friends". In the area of licensing she has the last say on every merchandising product, as well as for each new Fix & Foxi comic story. Her Bussi Baer Magazine is now published in twelve languages in fifteen countries. The Fix & Foxi TV series is broadcast in thirty countries. She is especially proud of the TV producton "Fix & Foxi Planet" by Terra Nova, where children are taught how to deal with their environment in an informative and playful way.

She is an important philanthropist with a special focus on music, especially opera. She serves as a board member at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Washington National Opera, and the Arizona Opera. In addition she is a generous donor to the Salzburg Festival. Acknowledging her extraordinary achievements, the Metropolitan Opera, in 2006, dedicated to her a performance of Verdi`s Rigoletto with Netrebko and Villazon, conducted by Placido Domingo. Most recently she was chairwoman of the festivities to commemorate the 80th birthday of conductor Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic. Her honorary cochairs at that event were former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrook and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Her most prized recognition was the award of the prestigious Honorary Erwin Piscator Award 2007, she received this past February, presented for "her exemplary philanthropic activities, especially her extraordinary support of arts and cultural institutions on both sides of the Atlantic". The newly-appointed General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Peter Gelb, presenting the award, expressed "his profound gratitude for Mrs. Kauka`s unwavering support of the re-invention of the Metropolitan Opera as an opera house ready for the 21st century, and her support for young singers programs in particular". She is active on the boards of many other important institutions and supports cultural centers, hospitals and other charities, tasks she takes very seriously. "Life was so favorable to me, it would not be right, not to help others!" is how Alexandra Kauka explains her efforts in this area.

This devotion was reinforced by a devastating accident ten years ago at a charity gala, when she fell two floors into an empty elevator shaft and by mere luck survived, although critically injured. This incident profoundly changed her whole attitude towards life. Her philosophy: "Each day is a gift, each task a challenge one has to face." Alexandra Kauka is also active as an environmentalist and nature-lover. She gave part of her plantation, in Thomasville, to the state of Georgia as the first nature preserve of this state, the "Rolf & Alexandra Kauka Wildlife Refuge".

Privately, Alexandra Kauka is a very versatile woman. She actively practices golf and races trotting horses.
In archery she qualified for the world championship on the Olymic course in Atlanta, and held place #82 on the world`s ranking list. Last summer, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with her son Markus. Archaeology remains her hobby with a special focus on Egyptology and the American Indian Stone Age. Alexandra loves to play the piano - especially Beethoven. Her only talent, as she says, is drawing and she is currently illustrating another book of poetry. Stimulated by Rolf Kauka, who admired her precise writing style, she is literarily engaged and at the moment working on a biography of Rolf Kauka. She is also interested in nano-technology.

Alexandra Kauka, born in Austria, grew up in Carintia and Württemberg, she currently lives on the Chinquapin plantation in Georgia, New York, and in Munich.


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