Lyon Cohen
Polish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lyon Cohen (born Yehuda Leib Cohen; May 11, 1868 – August 17, 1937) was a Polish-born Canadian businessman and a philanthropist. He was the grandfather of singer/poet Leonard Cohen.
May 11, 1868
Lyon Cohen | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | Yehuda Leib Cohen May 11, 1868 |
| Died | August 17, 1937 (aged 69) |
| Known for | first president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, co-founder of the Canadian Jewish Times |
| Spouse | Rachel Friedman |
| Children | Nathan Bernard Cohen Horace Rives Cohen Lawrence Zebulun Cohen Sylvia Lillian Cohen |
| Relatives | Leonard Cohen (grandson) Adam Cohen (great-grandson) |
Biography
Cohen was born in Congress Poland, part of the Russian Empire, to a Jewish family on May 11, 1868.[3] He immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1871.[3] He was educated at the McGill Model School and the Catholic Commercial Academy in Montreal.[3] In 1888, he entered the firm of Lee & Cohen in Montreal; later became partner with his father in the firm of L. Cohen & Son; in 1895, he established W. R. Cuthbert & Co; in 1900, he organized the Canadian Improvement Co., a dredging contractor; in 1906, he founded The Freedman Co. in Montreal; and in May 1919, he organized and became President of Canadian Export Clothiers, Ltd.[3] The Freedman Company went on to become one of Montreal’s largest clothing companies.[4]
In 1897, Cohen and Samuel William Jacobs founded the Canadian Jewish Times, the first English-language Jewish newspaper in Canada.[5] The newspaper promoted the Canadianization of recent East European Jewish immigrants and encouraged their acceptance of Canadian customs[4] as Cohen felt that the Old World customs of immigrant Jews were one of the main causes of anti-Semitism.[4] In 1914, the paper was purchased by Hirsch Wolofsky, owner of the Yiddish-language Keneder Adler, who transformed it into the Canadian Jewish Chronicle.[4]
He died on August 17, 1937, at the age of 69.[2]
Philanthropy
Cohen was elected the first president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919 and organized the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Canada.[5] Cohen was also a leader of the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society (later the Baron de Hirsch Institute) and the United Talmud Torahs, a Jewish day school in Montreal.[6] He also served as president of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim[4] and president of the Jewish Colonization Association in Canada.[5]
Personal life
Cohen married Rachel Friedman of Montreal on February 17, 1891. She was the founder and President of Jewish Endeavour Sewing School. They had three sons and one daughter:
- Nathan Bernard Cohen, who served as a lieutenant in the First World War; he married Lithuanian Jewish immigrant Masha Klonitsky and they had one daughter and one son:
- Esther Cohen and
- singer/poet Leonard Cohen.[6][7][8][9]
- Horace Rives Cohen, who was a captain and quartermaster of his battalion in World War I;[3]
- Lawrence Zebulun Cohen, student at McGill University, and[3][10]
- Sylvia Lillian Cohen.[3]