Sam Cohen

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Sam Cohen Library in Swakopmund (2010)

Simon "Sam" Cohen (born July 26, 1890 in the Russian Empire , † October 26, 1977 in Cape Town , South Africa ) was a businessman in South West Africa and a patron in the coastal city of Swakopmund .

Cohen was born in the Russian Empire, but moved with his parents to England at the age of nine months , where he attended school. In 1903 he emigrated to South Africa and finally in 1906 to what was then German South West Africa , today's Namibia . There Cohen ran a general store with his father . In 1912 he moved back to England, but returned to South West Africa four years later. From then on he set up one of the largest companies in the country, which was primarily active in the motor vehicle trade. In 1920 he married Sophia Cohen, née Canter, with whom he had a son, Jack Leslie, in 1921. In 1928 Cohen merged its activities under the companyS. Cohen (Pty) Ltd. which was incorporated into SWA Commercial Holdings in 1946 .

Cohen got involved early on and was considered a generous donor . Cohen was particularly committed to the work of the Society for Scientific Development Swakopmund . He financed and built the Sam Cohen library named after him , which houses Ferdinand Stich's Africana collection .

Cohen was one of the most famous Jewish residents in the country . The Sam Cohen building , the former headquarters of his company on Independence Avenue in Windhoek , houses the Namibian Ministry of the Interior (as of 2020) .

literature

  • Windhoek Hebrew Congregation (Ed.): Jewish Life in South West Africa, Namibia - A History. Windhoek 2014, ISBN 978-99945-78-94-8 .
  • Gill Fraser: Cohen of South West Africa. South West African Commercial Holdings Ltd., Windhoek 1956.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Klaus Dierks : Biographies, C. In: KlausDierks.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Cohen, Sam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cohen, Simon (official name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Businessman and patron in South West Africa
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1977
Place of death Cape Town , South Africa