Julius Berend Cohen
FRS (6 May 1859 in
Eccles – 14 June 1935 in
Coniston) was an English
chemist. He studied chemistry with
Hans von Pechmann at the
University of Munich. One of his students was
Henry Drysdale Dakin.
Biography
Julius Berend Cohen and his twin brother Adolf were the only boys of ten children of Sigismund Cohen, a cotton merchant born in
Hamburg, and Zena, née Berend, from
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...
, who were married in
Manchester. Julius was born on 6 May 1859 in
Eccles. Adolf fulfilled his father’s hope that he would join the family business. Julius tried it for a year but then switched to his first love: chemistry. From 1878-1880 he studied at
Owens College, where
Arthur Smithells was also working; the two were to become lifelong friends.
[
After an unhappy spell in industry at the ]Clayton Aniline Company
The Clayton Aniline Company Ltd. was a British manufacturer of dyestuffs, founded in 1876 by Charles Dreyfus in Clayton, Manchester.
Early history
Charles Dreyfus was a French emigrant chemist and entrepreneur, who founded the Clayton Aniline Co ...
Cohen joined Smithells in moving to Baeyer
Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo and developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended and adopted as part of the IUPAC org ...
’s laboratory in Munich in 1882, where he worked with Hans von Pechmann. He remained for two years and gained his PhD. Back in Manchester he was appointed as a Demonstrator in chemistry at Owens College. In 1890 he joined Smithells at Yorkshire College, Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, t ...
; he had been there since 1885. When the college gained full university status in 1904, Cohen was appointed professor of organic chemistry. When he retired in 1924 he was made Emeritus Professor and the University awarded him the honorary degree of D.Sc.
Cohen was elected a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1885, served on its Council from 1920- 1922 and from 1925-1928, in which time he was also a Vice-President. In 1911 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1930 Cohen received the honorary degree of LLD from the University of Glasgow.
Family
Julius Cohen married Hilda Hughes in 1892. Over the next nine years they had two sons and two daughters; all were born in Leeds, and all studied at its University. Their elder son, Adolph Broadfield, was killed in action in 1917, aged 24.
The close connections between the Cohens and the Smithells was reflected in marriages.
Julius’s sister Amy married Edwin Smithells, brother of Arthur. They had a son, Colin James, who married Mary Cohen, the elder daughter of Julius and Hilda, in 1918.
In 1932 Julius and Hilda moved to Thwaite Cottage, Coniston. Julius died there on 14 June 1935. He was buried at St Andrew, Coniston.
Works
*''The Owens College Course of Practical Organic Chemistry'', Macmillan & Co, 1887
*''Theoretical organic chemistry'', Macmillan and Co Ltd, 1902
*''Practical organic chemistry for advanced students'', Macmillan, 1907
*''Smoke. A study of town air'', Edward Arnold, 1912
*''A Class-Book of Organic Chemistry'', Macmillan & Co, 1917
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Julius
1859 births
1935 deaths
Scientists from Manchester
English chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society