David Cohen, one of Britain's most active cultural philanthropists, has died aged 89.
Mr Cohen, who was awarded a CBE in 2001 for charitable services, especially to the arts, founded the Cohen Family Trust in 1980 with his then wife, Veronica.
The trust, which deals with around 3,000 requests for money a year, focuses on education, conservation, environment and the arts.
He also set up the David Cohen Prize for Literature, a £40,000 biennial award established in 2002 whose recipients have included Tom Stoppard, Seamus Heaney, VS Naipaul, Beryl Bainbridge and Michael Holroyd.
Mr Cohen, a former GP, served on the boards of several arts institutions, including the Royal Ballet Schools, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre Development Council and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Trust.
Speaking to the JC in 2010 about his motivation for his involvement in arts funding, he said: "I love all the arts. I couldn't imagine a life without music for instance. One of my early ambitions as a schoolboy was to be an architect. In fact, when I was about nine or 10, I wanted to go to art school. My parents were not impressed. They felt I should get a good education first."
He went on to get a degree in Oriental studies at Oxford and a Fulbright Fellowship to study medieval Jewish philosophy in the United States, before qualifying as a doctor from Westminster Hospital.
We are saddened to learn of the death of Honorary Fellow Dr David Cohen, CBE. A graduate @LincolnAlumni, he later qualified in Medicine & practised as a GP. David was also a great cultural philanthropist, working w @RoyalBalletSch, @RoyalOperaHouse & #NewMusic20x12. @JewishChron pic.twitter.com/bq9bY5XJt7
— Harris Manchester (@HMCOxford) August 8, 2019
His career in philanthropy started in 1965, when together with his father, John S Cohen, he and his mother and brother set up the John S Cohen Foundation. The foundation facilitated generous donations to Jewish causes; in particular to Israel’s Hebrew University.
Harris Manchester, an Oxford college, tweeted: “We are saddened to learn of the death of Honorary Fellow Dr David Cohen, CBE. A graduate @LincolnAlumni, he later qualified in Medicine & practised as a GP. David was also a great cultural philanthropist.”
In 1962 David married Veronica Salmon; they divorced in 2002. They had two daughters, Imogen and Olivia. In 2003 he married the prominent arts administrator Jillian Barker.
Mr Cohen died at home on August 4.
