Lea Cohen

She directed the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra from 1975 to 1979. She has written over 11 novels and books.

Lea Cohen studied at National Academy of Music and Utrecht University. The recorded working language is Bulgarian. The field of work recorded is novel, musicology and politics. Positions recorded include ambassador of Bulgaria to the European Union and member of the Bulgarian National Assembly.

• Name — Lea Cohen • Native Name — Леа Коен • Born — 29 June 1942 • Birthplace — Sofia, Bulgaria • Occupation — Writer, musicologist, diplomat • Language — Bulgarian • Alma Mater — Utrecht University Bulgarian State Conservatory

Lea Cohen was born in Sofia on 29 June 1942 into a family of lawyers. Her father, Iosif Koen, was one of the Jewish people forced to labor at a highway-building project near Ihtiman during World War II. Following the 1944 Communist coup in Bulgaria, her father became the presiding judge (chair) of the Second Panel of the so-called People’s Court in Sliven. After completing her secondary education, she studied musicology and piano at the Bulgarian State Conservatory in Sofia. She then studied music history, earning her doctorate from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Cohen worked for the Bulgarian Music magazine as an editor and taught in Plovdiv at the Higher Music Institute. In 1967 she travelled to Moscow and tried to meet with Edison Denisov. She directed the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra from 1975 to 1979. She was the executive director and chief playwright of the Sofia Music Weeks festival. Following the fall of Communism in Bulgaria in 1989, Cohen became involved in politics and diplomacy. She was elected as a deputy in the Great National Assembly in June 1990. In April 1991, Cohen was appointed Bulgaria's special ambassador to the European Union. From 1991 to 1993, she was also an ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg. She continued working as a diplomat with NATO and the Western European Union from 1993 to 1996, and with Switzerland and Liechtenstein from 1997 to 2001. Cohen authored several books on musicology, avant-garde music, and musical figures such as Claude Debussy, Lyubomir Pipkov, and Paul Hindemith. Her books include Paul Hindemith (1967), Lubomir Pipkov (1969), and Monsieur Croche et Monsieur Débussy (1988). Koen has also written 11 novels and one play. Her fourth novel, The Strategem, was nominated for Best Bulgarian Novel in 2006. She has served as president of the Bulgarian Jewish Community. She wrote the 2023 book Salvation, Persecution, and the Holocaust in the Kingdom of Bulgaria (1940-1944).

Cohen was married to Vladimir Božkov. She lives in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and Sofia. She remarried to Swiss politician Charles Augsburger.

• The Short Eternity of Alma M (1997) • Florida (1998) • Alternus Consortium (2005) • The Presidential Candidate (2006) • Close Connection (2007) • The Chaser of Sounds (2008) • Bye Bye, Brussels (2011) • You Believe: Eight Views on the Holocaust in the Balkans (2012) • Love's Hunters (2014) • Raphael (2017) • Salvation, Persecution, and the Holocaust in the Kingdom of Bulgaria (1940-1944) (2023)

• Bitter Cherries (1999)