Clement Edward Cohen ’56

Clem Cohen died of a heart attack at his home in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 8, 1997. A native of NYC, he was a French major and active in Theatre Intime. He served as president of the Hispanic Club, was v.p. of Prospect Club, and earned hockey awards in his freshman and sophomore years. Following graduation, Clem served in the Navy, lived in Italy, and then moved to Venezuela, eventually becoming a citizen of that nation.

Clem was a life-long journalist. He served as a reporter for the Caracas Daily Journal, becoming its managing editor and then director, and was also news editor for the Associate Press in Caracas and a stringer for the Financial Times, the NY Times, Time, and Newsweek. He was a columnist for several Caracas newspapers and a correspondent for oil publications, becoming an expert on the Venezuelan petroleum industry and writing a book on Juan Pablo Pirez Alfonso, a cofounder of OPEC. During the administration of Pres. Jaime Lusinchi, Clem was named Venezuela's Deputy Information and Tourist Minister. In an article about Clem published in the Caracas Daily Journal following his death, he was called "an outstanding journalist, a person of integrity, and a just man."

Clem is survived by his wife, Liliana, their children, Giorgio and Viana, and his brother, Roy '53. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them.

The Class of 1956