Leonard Cohen

During 1960s, he was in a relationship with Marianne C. Stang Jensen Ihlen but the relationship did not last long.

He was then romantically involved with artist Suzanne Elrod and they were blessed with two children Adam and Lorca. However, the couple never married even though Cohen’s many songs and poems revolved around Suzanne. They separated in the year 1979.

He was apparently in relationships with French photographer Dominique Issermann and actress Rebecca De Mornay.

Leonard Cohen was born to Nathan Cohen and Marsha Klonitsky on 21st September 1934, in Westmount, Quebec. He lost his father at the age of nine.

After receiving elementary education at the ‘Roslyn Elementary School’ in 1948, he joined the ‘Westmount High School’. During high school he learnt poetry and music, and took special interest in the compositions of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

He got trained in playing a guitar in his teenage and after he got acquainted with a flamenco guitarist, and soon made a shift from acoustic to classical guitar.

He joined the ‘McGill University’ in 1951, where he was the president of the ‘McGill Debating Union’. The poems ‘Sparrows’ and ‘Thought of a Landsman’, which he composed during his university days made him the winner at the ‘Chester MacNaghten Literary Competition’.

The year 1954, witnessed the publication of his first poems in the ‘CIV/n’ magazine.

In 1957, Leonard Cohen went back to Montreal, Canada, where he engaged in some jobs and simultaneously, continued his literary works penning poems and fictional stories.

In 1961, his collection of poetry entitled ‘The Spice-Box of Earth’ was published by the publishing house ‘McClelland & Stewart’ of Canada. The book was received well by the readers and helped Cohen enter the poetic world of Canada.

During 1960s, he penned many poems and fictions and the decade saw the publication of his novels ‘The Favourite Game’ and ‘Beautiful Losers’ and collection of poems ‘Flowers for Hitler’, ‘Parasites of Heaven’ and ‘Selected Poems 1956-1968’.

He then focussed less on writing and was more engaged in his musical pursuits. He went to the United States to embark on his career as singer-songwriter. His song ‘Suzanne’ which was sung by American artist Judy Collins became a hit.

During 1960s, also sang in some folk festivals and his talent caught the attention of John H. Hammond. Hammond who worked for the ‘Columbia Records’ company signed Leonard for a contract with the company.

His song ‘Hallelujah’ is considered to be one of the biggest hits of his career. This song has been sung by around 200 artists in different languages and statistics by renowned organizations estimate that the record has sold five million copies till 2008. It has also been covered by the ‘BBC Radio Documentary, and several movies and television shows have used this song.