Leonard Cohen, a leader in the European Jewish community, died here suddenly yesterday at age 74. A descendant of rabbinical families on both paternal and maternal sides, Cohen was born in England and went to work before the age of 16. As his career developed, he took part in major industrial development and finance, both in Britain and abroad.
In his years of service to Jewish life, Cohen served as treasurer of Youth Aliya in England, as well as vice-president of the Magbit, the Israel Bonds Organization and the World ORT Union (WOU) in Switzerland. He also served on the WOU finance committee and on the board of the Weizmann Institute. Shortly after World War II, Cohen was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his services to the French government.
Max A. Braude, director-general of the WOU in Geneva, said that Cohen’s death constitutes a deep loss to leadership of the Jewish community here and abroad. “Leonard Cohen was a modest man who preferred action to words–and anonymity to publicity,” Braude said, and pointed out that Cohen’s “involvement with Jewish causes was always on the level of maximum service, primarily to youth.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
