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Sir David Jacques Cruse Cohen, KBE, PC 1st Baron Cruse-Cohen (14 May 1892 - 2 September 1976) was a noted financier, economist, philanthropist, politician, and vintner in Great Britain and France. He is most noted for helping to finance the British war effort during World War II and for his years of service to the British Royal Family as one of its chief financial advisors.

Childhood and Early Life

David Cohen was born in Paris, France in 1892. The youngest of four children to Arnaud Cohen (see Cohen Banking Family of Monaco) and Sarah Cruse, he attended Oxford University and the London School of Economics before returning to Paris to work in banking with his father and to manage the family’s winery in Bordeaux. In 1919, following his service in World War I, David married Mathilde Elisabeth de Rothschild and assumed sole control of the family’s chateau and wine operations in Bordeaux shortly thereafter. In 1927, the two divorced and Cohen returned to England where he married Evelyn Mocatta of the Anglo-Jewish Mocatta family.

Residing in London, Cohen worked for his second wife’s family, Mocatta & Goldsmid (now Scotia-Mocatta) in banking and international business. Shortly following the outbreak of World War II, Cohen saw to the escape of his former wife and two sons from France to England. During WWII, Cohen served as one of the top financial advisors to King George VI and as such, he was granted a barony by the King in 1945, being given the hereditary title of “First Baron Cruse-Cohen.”

Later Years

Cohen would go on to serve as Vice-Chairman on the Board (under his father-in-law Edward Mocatta) of Mocatta & Goldsmid until it merged with Hambros Bank in 1957. Following the merger, Cohen served on the Board of Standard Chartered Bank until resigning in 1964 to serve on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, thus making him the first and only native-born Frenchmen to do so. In 1966, Cohen was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II and made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).

Cohen, throughout his life, gave generously to charities supporting the homeless, orphanages, and scholarships to accomplished students from underprivileged families. He died in 1978 at his home in Sussex from cancer.

Notable Relatives

References

[[Category:French winemakers]]
[[Category:French Jews]]
[[Category:British Jews]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
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