COCK – The male of the domestic fowl. The original habitat of the domestic fowl is generally supposed to be India, whence it was introduced at an early time into Babylonia and Greece. It is difficult to say when it was brought to...
COCKATRICE – See Basilisk.
CODES – See Laws, Codification of.
CODICIL – See Will.
CŒLE-SYRIA – The name, occurring in the Greek apocryphal writings, of a Persian province lying between Egypt and the Euphrates. In old editions it is given as "Celosyria." This name stands for the earlier expression "the, country beyond the...
COEN – Physician-in-ordinary at the court of Prince Vassile Lupu, hospodar of Moldavia from 1634 to 1654. The dates of his birth and death, and his given name, are unknown. E. Schwarzfeld is of the opinion that Coen was a descendant of...
COEN, ACHILLE – 1. Italian soldier; born at Leghorn in 1851. He studied at the military academy of his native town, and was appointed lieutenant in the engineer corps at the age of twenty. Subsequently assigned to the sharpshooters, he was...
COEN, BENJAMIN VITALE – Italian rabbi; born at Alessandria della Paglia in the second half of the seventeenth century; died at Reggio nell' Emilia in 1739. Descended from a wealthy and prominent family, Coen was elected rabbi of Casale while still a...
COEN, GIUSEPPE – Italian painter; born in Ferrara 1811; died in Venice Jan. 26, 1856. He was descended from an old and distinguished family. As a boy he evinced a predilection for music and painting, and studied art without having any particular...
COEN, GRAZIADIO VITA ANANIA – Italian, rabbi and scholar; born at Reggio nell' Emilia about 1750: died March 28, 1834. He studied under Sansone Naḥmani and Isaiah Vita Carmi. He established in his native city a school that produced several rabbis, among whom...
COEN, JACOB – Eldest son of Abraham Coen, and receiver-general ("contador mayor") of Count Maurice of Nassau, Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, 1584-1625. Although the Jews of Holland did not possess rights of...
COEN, JAN PIETERSZOON – Governor-general of Java, and founder of the Dutch colonial system; born at Hoorn, Holland, Jan. 8, 1587; died in 1629. He gained his early commercial experience with the firm of Piscatori in Rome, went to India on a commercial...
COEN, JOSEF DI MICHELE – One of the Jewish boys of Rome baptized under Pope Pius IX.; born 1854. In 1864 he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. Sent by his master to deliver a pair of shoes at the house of a priest, the boy was seized and dragged to the...
COEN, MOSES VITA – Banker at Ferrara, Italy, in the eighteenth century. He often transacted business with Pope Clement XIII. and with his successor, Clement XIV. On Feb. 22, 1764, Clement XIII. requested Coen to provide the papal government with...
COEN, RAFFAELO DEL FU VITALE – Austrian physician; born at Spalato, Dalmatia, Jan. 19, 1839. He was educated at the gymnasium of his native town and at the University of Vienna, whence he was graduated as doctor of medicine in 1872 whereupon he commenced to...
COEN-CANTARINI – See Cantarini.
COFFEE – A decoction of the berry of the Coffea Arabica, supposed to be indigenous to Abyssinia, and introduced into Arabia in the fifteenth century. It soon came into common use throughout Islam, and was thence introduced into European...
COFFIN – The custom of using coffins is probably borrowed from the Egyptians. It is recorded of Joseph that he was "put in a coffin in Egypt" (Gen. 1. 26). Tradition says it was of metal (Soṭah 13a). Both the Ark of the Covenant and the...
COHEN – The most usual surnames of European Jews. It indicates a family claiming. descent from Aaron, the high priest. "Cohen" is the usual transliteration and orthography in English-speaking countries; but "Cowen" and "Cowan" also...
COHEN – A Baltimore family, originally from Bavaria, which has occupied an important place in the Jewish community and in municipal life since the early years of the nineteenth century. Its first representative in America was Jacob I....
COHEN, ABNER – The pioneer of Krugersdorp, Transvaal Colony; born about 1860; emigrated to South Africa in 1881; worked his way north, and fell in with the Boers, learning their language and trading with them. On his way to Johannesburg in...