Maurice Cohen, Zionist knight from Australia, dies at 96

Tel Aviv born Australian Zionist leader, who headed the Jewish National Fund and the Friends of Hebrew University in Australia, leaves behind him a large tribe: two daughters, seven grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
By Uri Dromi

Maurice Cohen, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1915 and died recently at the age of 96, immigrated with his family to Australia at the age of 12 and at 22 already held a law degree.

When he retired from the law in 1975, he was considered one of the most respected lawyers in Victoria. In World War II, Cohen was conscripted into the Australian Army and in addition to his various assignments he served as the spokesman of the Jewish Refugees Committee, which protested against the designation of Jews from countries that had been occupied by the Nazis as "enemy subjects."

He was a Zionist leader and headed the Jewish National Fund and the Friends of Hebrew University in Australia. His high school in Melbourne takes pride in him as one of its outstanding graduates.

When the Israeli Embassy opened in Melbourne, it was he who came forward to pay the rent and only later did he get his money back, in installments. Cohen invested his energy not only in Jewish affairs, and among other things was active in the Australian Salvation Army.


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