David Jacob Cohen

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]

References

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1. Adler, Cyrus and Henrietta Szold. The American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 62. American Jewish Committee, 1961. p. 381
2. 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