David Jacob Cohen

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David Jacob Cohen OBE (died 9 February 1959) was an Indian politician and a leading figure of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Calcutta. [1] [2] He served as honorary secretary of the Beth-El Synagogue. [3] Cohen, then serving as vice president of the Calcutta Jewish Association, was to the Bengal Legislative Council from the Calcutta South Central non-Mohammedan constituency in 1921. [2] [4] Being elected to the Legislative Council was the highest political office obtained by a Calcutta Jew. [5] He was defeated in the 1923 election, but was nominated by the Governor to remain in the Council in 1923 and 1926. [2]

Cohen was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1941. [6]

Cohen died on 9 February 1959 at the age of 75. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Adler, Cyrus and Henrietta Szold. The American Jewish Year Book , Vol. 62. American Jewish Committee, 1961. p. 381
  2. 1 2 3 Egorova, Yulia. Jews and India: Perceptions and Image . London: Routledge, 2006. pp. 92-93
  3. Roland, Joan G. The Jewish Communities of India: Identity in a Colonial Era . New Brunswick [u.a.]: Transaction Publ, 1998. p. 117
  4. The Indian Year Book , Vol. 8–9. Bennett, Coleman & Company, 1921. p. 65
  5. Roland, Joan G. The Jewish Communities of India: Identity in a Colonial Era . New Brunswick [u.a.]: Transaction Publ, 1998. p. 338
  6. JTA. Retrieved 14 November 2014