Samuel Herbert Cohen

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Date of Birth26 October 1918
Death Date7 October 1969

ParliamentFederal
DesignationSenator Victoria
PartyALP
Term1962 to 1969

BiographySamuel Herbert Cohen was born in Sydney to Russian Jewish immigrants and educated in Melbourne where he was a brilliant student obtaining his Master of Laws before enlisting in the Australian army. After the war, he joined the ALP and became a leading voice of the left faction. He was elected to the Senate in 1962 and became opposition spokesman on many issues but especially education where he developed a blueprint eventually implemented as policy by the Whitlam government. He was very active in support of Jewish causes including the United Israel Appeal, the Montefiore homes and the Friends of the Hebrew University. While still serving as a senator, Sam Cohen collapsed and died addressing an election meeting in Adelaide at the young age of 50. His portrait by Louis Kahan hangs in the Hebrew University. Bob Hawke delivered the inaugural Sam Cohen memorial lecture in 1971.