Sam Cohen

Who was Sam Cohen?

Samuel Herbert "Sam" Cohen was an Australian politician, and was the first Jewish person to ever be elected to the Australian Senate.

He was born in Sydney, he was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and then the University of Melbourne. He was active in left-wing student politics, and as President of the Melbourne University Students' Representative Council was a founding member of the executive committee of the National Union of Australian University Students.

He served in the military from 1942 to 1943 and became a barrister in 1946. In 1961, he was elected to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for Victoria. He held the seat until his death in 1969; Bill Brown was appointed to replace him.