Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen, Canadian songwriter, folk singer, poet, novelist, and philosopher, came from a middle-class Jewish home in Westmount, Montreal, his father a successful clothing-store owner. Cohen would go on to study at McGill University and then Columbia University. He published his first book of poetry in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. This photograph was taken by Jack Robinson on August 9, 1967 a month after Cohen’s appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. There he was spotted by John Hammond of Columbia Records who signed him; they would release his first album later that year.