SOLIS-COHEN

SOLIS-COHEN, U.S. family founded by JACOB DA SILVA SOLIS who emigrated to the U.S. in 1803. Jacob's grandfather is reported to have refused succession to the marquisate of Turin, since it would have required his defection from Judaism. Most of Jacob's descendants were born and lived in Philadelphia. JACOB DA SILVA SOLIS-COHEN (1838–1927), grandson of Jacob da Silva Solis, was a surgeon. During the Civil War he served as surgeon to the Union army, and later did pioneering research work in laryngology which led to an honorary professorship at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He founded and edited the Archives of Laryngology. His brother LEON DA SILVA SOLIS-COHEN (1840–1884) was a writer of stories and verse often based on old Jewish legends. Another brother, DAVID DA SILVA SOLIS-COHEN (1850–1928) was a lawyer. Born in Philadelphia, he settled in Portland, Oregon, where he was active in Jewish organizations, including the Zionist society. He served as Portland police commissioner (1892–94 and 1898–1902) and mayor (1896–98), and also wrote several books for children. SOLOMON DA SILVA SOLIS-COHEN (1857–1948), another brother, was a physician and poet. A professor of clinical medicine at Jefferson Medical College (1904–27), he was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a trustee of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia Convention. His basic research in medicine was widely noted. He was active in Jewish affairs, attending the Third Zionist Congress in Basle (1899) and later serving as a (non-Zionist) member of the Jewish Agency. He published a volume of original verse, When Love Passed By (1929), and translated many Hebrew poems into English, including Ibn Ezra's Selected Poems (trans. 1934). A full bibliography is included in his Judaism and Science (1940). JUDITH DA SILVA (1876–1927), daughter of the second Jacob da Silva Solis-Cohen, was a fashion editor. She wrote solis-cohen numerous articles and stories on dressmaking and fashion as well as on nature subjects. Her brother MYER DA SILVA (1877–1960), became a physician and later he served on the staff of the graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania and wrote numerous articles on medical subjects. Another brother, JACOB DA SILVA SOLIS-COHEN JR. (1890–1968), was a realtor and genealogist. He served as president of the Jewish Publication Society of America and honorary president of Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadephia. He wrote a paper on the founder of the family, "Jacob S. Solis: Traveling Advocate of American Judaism" (AJHQ, 52 (1962–63), 310–9). EMILY DA SILVA SOLIS COHEN JR. (1890–1966), daughter of Solomon, was an author and welfare worker. She wrote and translated several popular books for children on Jewish themes, and numerous articles. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Solis-Cohen Jr., in: The Jewish Experience in America, 2 (1969), 335–86 (on Jacob da Silva). (Alan D. Corre)