Julius Berend Cohen, 1859-1935

Julius Berend Cohen and his twin brother Adolf were born in Manchester in 1859. Their father was Sigismund Cohen, one of the numerous Germans who migrated to this country to take up the career of merchant shipper. It was his expectation and his desire that his twin sons should enter what had become his prosperous business. After early education in a Manchester day school, they attended a general matriculation course at Owens College from 1875-76. With a view to their preparation for business, one of the twins, Adolf, spent a year in Lisbon and the other, Julius, a year in Paris. The following year the brothers entered their father’s business, but it appealed only to Adolf. Julius had in his school days practised experimental chemistry in schoolboy fashion at home and acquired a strong interest in science. After a year of his father’s businesshe then decided to prepare for a career in chemical industry and returned to Owens College for two years, 1878-80, principally to study chemistry.