Elliot E. Cohen Explained

Elliot E. Cohen
Birth Name:	Elliot E. Cohen
Birth Date:	14 March 1899
Birth Place:	Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Death Place:	New York City, New York, U.S.
Known For:	Founding editor of Commentary and Co-founder of "Menorah Journal
Education:	Yale University
Employer:	American Jewish Committee
Occupation:	Writer, Editor
Nationality:	American

Elliot E. Cohen (March 14, 1899 – May 28, 1959) was the founder and first editor of Commentary.^[1]

Early life and education

Cohen was born in Des Moines, Iowa and attended Yale University, where he contributed light verse to a campus humor magazine, The Yale Record.^[2]

Career

Menorah Journal

In the 1930s, he was a co-editor of the Menorah Journal with Herbert Solow.^{[3] [4]}

Commentary

Cohen was the founder and first editor of Commentary, then published by the American Jewish Committee, from 1945 until his death by suicide in 1959.^[1]

During his tenure at Commentary, the magazine had a liberal point of view. His editorial position was filled by Norman Podhoretz in 1960, by Neal Kozodoy in 1995, and by John Podhoretz in 2009.

Further reading

• Strauss, Lauren B. "Staying afloat in the Melting Pot: Constructing an American Jewish identity in the Menorah Journal of the 1920s." American Jewish History 84.4 (1996): 315-331.
• Wald, Alan M. The New York intellectuals: the rise and decline of the anti-stalinist left from the 1930s to the 1980s (U North Carolina Press, 2017).

Notes and References

1. News: EDITOR FOUND DEAD IN A PLASTIC BAG. . New York Times . May 29, 1959.
2. Bronson, Francis W., Thomas Caldecott Chubb, and Cyril Hume, eds. (1922) The Yale Record Book of Verse: 1872-1922. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 77-78.
3. Web site: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/elliot-e--cohen-12135 . 2018-08-07 .
4. News: Eric. Alterman. Inspiring Eggheads. New York Times. 26 July 1998. 25 September 2011.