Cohen, Elliot Ettelson
COHEN, ELLIOT ETTELSON
COHEN, ELLIOT ETTELSON (1899–1959), U.S. journalist. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Cohen was managing editor of The Menorah Journal from 1925 to 1931 and headed a group of writers who gave the journal its vitality and integrity. In 1945, he became editor of the newly founded magazine *Commentary, which was designed to be larger in scope than the previous organ of the American Jewish Committee, The Jewish Contemporary Record. Established as a liberal anti-Communist journal, Commentary had Cohen as its editor and driving force from its inception until his death. As his successor Norman *Podhoretz stated, "Everyone knows that Elliot Cohen created Commentary and edited it for fourteen years, but I doubt that anyone except the people who in one capacity or another were close to the actual workings of the magazine ever appreciated the extent to which Commentary was Elliot Cohen." Cohen wrote Commentary on the American Scene: Portraits of Jewish Life in America (1953).
bibliography:
L. Trilling, "On the Death of a Friend," in: Commentary, 29 (Feb. 1960); Jewish Belief: A Symposium Compiled by the Editors of Commentary Magazine (1966).
[Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]