Cosma Shiva Hagen
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Cosma Shiva Hagen (born 17 May 1981 in Los Angeles, California) is a German actress and the daughter of New Wave/punk singer Nina Hagen and the late musician Ferdinand Karmelk. Her grandmother is the actress Eva-Maria Hagen, and her step-grandfather is the East German dissident writer Wolf Biermann. While Eva-Maria Hagen was allowed to emigrate to West Germany during the 1970s, Wolf Biermann was forced to emigrate. Cosma Shiva's unusual name was picked by her eccentric mother, who saw a UFO while pregnant with her. "Cosma" is a reference to Cosmos, and "Shiva" is a reference to the Hindu god Shiva.
Unlike her world-famous mother, 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).
Blessed with her mother's full lips and a curvacious 1950's bombshell physique, Cosma Shiva has appeared in a pictorial in the German edition of Playboy in addition to nude scenes in some films.
As a child, Cosma Shiva lived in London, Berlin, Paris, Ibiza, a boarding school in Lüneburg and her current home, Hamburg. Having grown up the child of celebrities, Nina Hagen wanted to shield her daughter from the pressures of being the child of a celebrity. Consequently, throughout most of her childhood, Cosma Shiva's classmates did not know that her mother was Nina Hagen. Born in Los Angeles, California, Cosma Shiva considers both German and English to be her native languages. She also knows French and Spanish as foreign languages and has the ability to mimic various dialects.
Cosma Shiva did not like school, did not finish high school and never formally studied acting. She enjoys horseback riding as a hobby. She is also a dedicated animal rights advocate.
