View source for Albert Cohen (novelist)

{{short description|Greek-born Swiss novelist (1895-1981)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Albert Cohen
| image            = AlbertCohen-Lycée Thiers Marseille 1909.jpg
| caption          = Cohen in 1909
| birth_name       = Abraham Albert Cohen
| birth_date       = August 16, 1895
| birth_place      = [[Corfu]], Greece
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1981|10|17|1895|8|16}}
| death_place      = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| occupation       = Novelist
| nationality      = Swiss
}}

'''Abraham Albert Cohen''' (August 16, 1895 – October 17, 1981) was a Greek-born [[Romaniote Jews|Romaniote Jewish]] [[Switzerland|Swiss]] novelist who wrote in French. He worked as a civil servant for various international organizations, such as the [[International Labour Organization]]. He became a Swiss citizen in 1919.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/cohen-albert-tf/ "Cohen, Albert"] from ''Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century'', "Further references, related titles" by David Coward. ''Bookrags'', 18 June 2010. </ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Synagoge von Korfu 01.jpg|thumb| A plaque in the synagogue of Corfu]]
'''Abraham Albert Cohen''' ({{langx|el|Αβραάμ Αλβέρτος Κοέν}}) was born in [[Corfu]], Greece, in 1895, to [[Greek Jews|Greek Jewish]] parents. Albert's parents, who owned a soap factory, moved to [[Marseille]], France, when he was a child.<ref>{{cite news |title=America's Albert Cohen Moment Is the Greek-born French Jewish author and diplomat a hapless romantic or a man with a message for our times? |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/289622/americas-albert-cohen-moment |accessdate=21 August 2019 |publisher=Tablet}}</ref> Albert Cohen discusses this period in his novel ''Le Livre de ma mère'' (''The Book of My Mother''). He studied at a private Catholic school. In 1904, he started high school at Lycée Thiers, where he met and started a lifelong friendship with [[Marcel Pagnol]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Pagnol and Friends|url=http://en.marcel-pagnol.com/etlesautres.php|accessdate=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909142325/http://en.marcel-pagnol.com/etlesautres.php|archive-date=2017-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> and graduated in 1913.

In 1914, he left Marseille for [[Geneva]], Switzerland, and enrolled in law school. He graduated from law school in 1917 and enrolled in literature school{{clarification needed|date=April 2022}} in 1917, where he remained until 1919. In 1919, he became a Swiss citizen. That same year he married Elisabeth Brocher, who in 1921 gave birth to their daughter, Myriam. In 1924, his wife died of cancer. In 1925, Albert Cohen became director of ''Revue Juive'' (''The Jewish Review''), a periodical whose writers included [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Sigmund Freud]]. From 1926 to 1932, he worked in [[International Labour Organization]] in Geneva. In 1933, he married his second wife, Marianne Goss.<ref>[https://www.albertcohen.gr/fr/albert-cohen Biographie d'Albert Cohen]</ref><ref>[https://www.viceversaliteratur.ch/author/10320 ''Albert Cohen'']</ref>

In 1939, living in France, he became a personal representative of [[Chaim Weizmann]], the president of the [[Zionist Organization]]. He helped Jewish refugees from Nazism to reach [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]]. In 1940, after the [[Battle of France|German invasion in France]], Cohen fled to [[London]]. The [[Jewish Agency for Israel#History|Jewish Agency for Palestine]] then made him responsible for establishing contacts with exiled governments. On January 10, 1943, Cohen's mother died in Marseille. That same year, he met his future third wife, Bella Berkowich. In 1944, he became an attorney for the [[Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees]]. In 1947, Cohen returned to Geneva where he held a senior post in [[International Refugee Organization]] until 1954. In 1957, he turned down the post of Israeli Ambassador in order to pursue his literary career.<ref>[https://www.albertcohen.gr/fr/albert-cohen Biographie d'Albert Cohen]</ref><ref>[https://www.viceversaliteratur.ch/author/10320 ''Albert Cohen'']</ref>

He died in Geneva at the age of 86 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery of [[Veyrier]], near Geneva.

==Cohen's literature==
Through four different books, Cohen's fiction can be considered as one long [[Biography in literature|autobiographical fiction]]. It is the story of the radiant Solal – Cohen's double – a handsome and successful civil servant of the [[League of Nations]] whose charismatic identity is a constant struggle between his Jewish roots and his social status.

His masterpiece, ''[[Belle du Seigneur]]'', originally included the novel that was later published as ''Les Valeureux''. ''Belle du Seigneur'' is called "the book of love", and tells Solal's passionate, cruel yet realistic love affair with Ariane Deume, a married non-Jewish woman. In 1968, the novel received the [[French Academy]] award. Since then, the novel has been one of the biggest sellers of the prestigious [[Gallimard]] White Collection.<ref>[http://everything2.com/title/Albert+Cohen "Albert Cohen"], ''everything2.com'', 18 June 2010. Accessed 21 April 2022. </ref> In 2022, Cohen's works were published in the prestigious [[Bibliothèque de la Pléiade]].

== Novels, plays, autobiographical works ==
* ''Paroles juives'' - (1921) (Jewish Words)
* ''Ézéchiel'' - (1927) - play
* ''[[Solal of the Solals|Solal]]'' - (1930) translated as ''Solal of the Solals'' - (1933)
* ''[[Nailcruncher|Mangeclous]]'' - (1938) translated as ''Nailcruncher'' - (1940)
* ''[[Book of my Mother|Le Livre de ma mère]]'' - (1954) translated as ''Book of my Mother'' - (1997)
* ''[[Belle du Seigneur]]'' - (1968) [[Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française]] translated under the same title - (1995)
* ''Les Valeureux'' - (1970)
* ''Ô vous, frères humains'' - (1972) (O Humans, My Brothers)
* ''Carnets'' - (1978, 1979) (Notes)

==See also==
*[[Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century|''Le Monde'''s 100 Books of the Century]], a list which includes ''Belle du Seigneur''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Helveticat}}
* {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.atelier-albert-cohen.org/ Atelier Albert Cohen]

{{Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Albert}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:French-language Swiss writers]]
[[Category:Swiss Zionists]]
[[Category:Jewish writers]]
[[Category:Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners]]
[[Category:French emigrants to Switzerland]]
[[Category:Greek Jews]]
[[Category:Romaniote Jews]]
[[Category:Writers from Marseille]]
[[Category:Postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Greek emigrants to France]]
[[Category:Writers from Corfu]]