Morris Cohen (adventurer)
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Morris "Two-Gun" Cohen (1887 - 1970) was a British-born adventurer who became a bodyguard for Sun Yat-sen. According to his own claims, he influenced Nationalist Chinese politics.
According to his ghostwritten biography, Morris Cohen was born as a black sheep of a rich British family and was exiled to Canada.
Actually, Morris Abraham Cohen was born into a poor Polish-Jewish family in London's East End. In 1900 he was arrested for picking pockets and sent to a reform school. When he was released he left for Canada and wandered through Western provinces to Edmonton where he befriended Chinese railroad workers. He also gambled heavily in a Chinese gambling den in Saskatoon.
Cohen defended the Chinese owner of the gambling house against white robbers, which was unheard of the time. He was about to be arrested by police when he left for China in 1922 - leaving his wife behind. Some Chinese sources claim that officially he left to present a railroad contract to Sun-Yat Sen.
After the signing of the contract had been finished, Cohen decided to stay in China and became a bodyguard for Sun Yat-Sen. According to himself, he became at least acting colonel in Sun Yat-Sen's army. Chinese gave him a nickname Two-Gun Man Ma Kun Cohen because of his usual armament, two revolvers. He also became an arms dealer and claimed that Sun Yat-Sen respected his advice. However, Cohen never learned to speak any form of Chinese.
After death of Sun Yat-sen, Cohen stayed to work for Kuomintang leaders like Sun Fo and was acquainted with Chiang Kai-shek. He became an acting general.
When Japan invaded China in 1937 he joined the fight. He was imprisoned in Hong Kong after Japanese took it over. Reputedly he had gone there to rescue Sun Yat-sen's widow.
After the war, Cohen returned to Canada and found his wife in Montreal. He still returned to China yearly, claiming his wife that he had been invited to come - when in fact he visited his mistress in Hong Kong. Eventually his wife grew tired of her and told him to leave. Cohen returned to London to live with his sister. He maintained good relations both with Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, possibly for business reasons.
Morris Cohen died 1970 in London. He is buried in Blakeley Jewish Cemetery in Manchester.
Books about Cohen
- Charles Drags (ghostwriter for Cohen)- Two-Gun Cohen
- Daniel S. Levy - Two-Gun Cohen (1997)