Morris Abraham Cohen (born Moszek Abram Miączyn; 3 August 1887 – 7 September 1970), better known as Two-Gun Cohen, was a Polish-born British and Canadian adventurer of Jewish origin who became aide-de-camp to Sun Yat-sen and a major-general in the Chinese National Revolutionary Army.
Early years
Cohen was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Radzanów, Congress Poland, on 3 August 1887. His father was Josef Leib Mialczyn, a wheelwright, and his mother was Sheindel Lipshitz. In 1889 the family emigrated to England and settled in East London, where Josef worked in a textile factory. They changed their family name to the easier-to-pronounce Cohen, and Abraham went by Morris and Moishe.
Cohen loved the theaters, the streets, the markets, the foods and the boxing arenas of the British capital more than he did the Jews' Free School, and in April 1900 he was arrested as "a person suspected of attempting to pick pockets". A magistrate sent him to the Hayes Industrial School, an institution set up by the likes of Lord Rothschild to care for and train wayward Jewish lads. He was released in 1905 and Cohen's parents shipped the young Morris off to western Canada with the hope that the fresh air and open plains of the New World would reform his ways.
Cohen initially worked on a farm near Whitewood, Saskatchewan. He tilled the land, tended the livestock and learned to shoot a gun and play cards. He did that for a year, and then started wandering through the Western provinces, making a living as a carnival barker, gambler, card sharp, pickpocket, pimp, and successful real estate broker. Some of his activities landed him in jail, and in particular he was jailed in Winnipeg for sexual relations with a girl who was under the age of sixteen.
Cohen also became friendly with some of the Chinese exiles who had come to work on the Canadian Pacific Railways. He loved the camaraderie and the food, and in Saskatoon came to the aid of a Chinese restaurant owner who was being robbed. Cohen's training in the alleyways of London came in handy, and he knocked out the thief and tossed him out into the street.
<blockquote>Such an act was unheard of. Few white men ever came to the aid of a Chinese man in early 20th century Canada. As a Jew, though, Cohen felt an affinity for the Chinese underdog. He knew what it was like to be an outsider, someone who society shunned.
— Daniel S. Levy, author of Two-Gun Cohen: A Biography.
It was in pre-World War I Edmonton that Cohen commenced his long and varied military career by recruiting members of the Chinese community and training them in drill and musketry on behalf of Dr Sun Yat-sen's representative organization in Canada.
Military career
The real estate market in Edmonton experienced a decline with the advent of World War I. Without any income, Cohen joined the 218th Battalion, CEF. He became a sergeant and moved to Camp Sarcee in Calgary for training. He became known by local newspapers for his regular clashes with the law. On one occasion in October 1916, he was among thirteen soldiers who were charged with disturbing the peace after an altercation with the Calgary City Police. He was acquitted after serving as his own defense, and the Calgary Herald noted his "surprising knowledge of court procedures." His tombstone includes markings in Hebrew and English. Having achieved good relations with both the Communist and Nationalist factions in China, a rare simultaneous public appearance of representatives from both factions occurred at Cohen's funeral.
- Paolo Frere, The Pedlar and the Doctor (1995)
- Daniel S. Levy Two-Gun Cohen: A Biography (1997)
- Jim Christy, Scalawags (2008)
Film
- In Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), the character of "Jones," a western adviser to the general, may resemble Cohen. The movie was based on a book of the same name by Grace Zaring Stone, who lived in Canton in the 1920s. In an interview with Stone's daughter in the early 1990s, she said that she was not sure if her mother and Cohen's paths crossed. But since the western community in that city was relatively insular, she said that it was quite likely that Stone at least knew of Cohen.
- The General Died at Dawn (1936) was inspired by Cohen, with Gary Cooper playing the part of an Irish-American adventurer in China.
- The Gunrunner (1983), a Canadian movie with Kevin Costner, was inspired by Cohen.
See also
- List of riots and civil unrest in Calgary