COHEN, LEVI ALI:
Dutch physician and medical author; born Oct. 6, 1817, at Meppel, province of Drenthe, Holland; died Nov. 22, 1889, at Groningen. He received his education at the Latin school of his native town and the university at Groningen, from which he graduated in 1840 as medical doctor. Establishing himself as general practitioner in Groningen in the same year, he became (1858) chief of the bureau of provincial statistics. In 1865 he gave up his practise to become chief of the board of health ("Inspecteur voor het Geneeskundig Staatstoezicht") of the provinces of Overyssel and Drenthe, and later of the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. During this time he was one of the reorganizers of the new medical laws for the Netherlands. King William III. appointed him in 1876 delegate to the hygiene and sanitation congress which met at Brussels. For fifty years he was a member of the congregational committee of Groningen, one year its president, and for twenty years a member of the committee on Jewish affairs in Holland. He also took great interest in the charity societies. From 1844 till 1877 he was editor of the following periodicals: "Mededeelengen uit het Gebied van Natuur, Wetenschap, en Kunst," "Nieuw Praktisch Tijdschrift van de Geneeskunde in Al Haar Omvang," "Het Repertorium," "Nieuw Statistisch Geneeskundig Jaarboekje," and (with other medical men) "Het Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde." He was also a contributor to the "Weekblad van het Ned. Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde."
Cohen has written many essays and books, among which are: "Bewerking van Choulant-Richter's Ziektekunde and Geneeskunde," 1858-60; "Het Wezen en de Rationele Behanding van den Zooganaamden Diabetes Mellitus," Groningen, 1845; "Bewerking van Isensées Oudeen Middel-Geschiedenis der Geneeskunde," 1847; and "Handboek der Openbare Gezondheidsregeling en der Geneeskundige Politie," Groningen, 1869-72. Mention should also be made of one of his works on Biblical subjects, viz.: "De Dichter van het Boek Job als Dierkundige Beschouwd," 1843. All these works were published in Groningen.
- C. E. Daniels, in Hirsch, Biog. Lex. s.v., Vienna, 1884.
