Arthur Cohen

Biography He was born in Wyndham Place, Bryanston Square, London, the youngest son of Benjamin Cohen, a prosperous bill broker. His grandfather, Levy Barent Cohen, had moved from Holland. His mother, Justina, was the sister of Sir Moses Montefiore. In 1853 he was president of the Cambridge Union Society. At Cambridge Cohen had a successful career, coming out fifth wrangler in the Mathematical tripos. As a Jew he could not take his degree until after the passing of the Cambridge University Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 88), which abolished the obligatory Christian oath which had preceded graduation. In 1858 Cohen became the first professing Jew to graduate at Cambridge, taking his MA in 1860.

Cohen then read law and was called to the bar in 1857. He served as counsel for the Indian Office from 1893 to 1914, and was also counsel in an arbitration at The Hague and chaired the Bar Council.