Leonard Cohen was selected as one of our famous people in 2005. What made him famous, and how was he selected?
Mr. Cohen was born on September 21, 1934 in Montreal. In his lifetime, he achieved the status of a well-known Canadian poet, novelist, singer, and songwriter.
In 1951, Cohen enrolled at McGill University where he pursued a career as a poet. His first poetry book, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956), was published while he was still an undergraduate student. The Spice Box of Earth (1961) made him famous in poetry circles.
After moving to Hydra, a Greek island, Cohen published the poetry collection, Flowers for Hitler (1964), and the novels, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Loser (1966).
The sound of Cohen’s first album, Song of Leonard Cohen (1967) was much too downtrodden to be a commercial success. He followed up with Song from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971), and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974).
Cohen’s title and honours include his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1991, his ordainment as a Buddhist monk in 1996, and being made a campaign of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, in 2003.
According to the four criteria that we have made, 1) the success due to performance; 2) the recognition for achievements (awards and other prizes); 3) the contribution to society (human and social activities); 4) positive image (popularity and sponsorship). We have nominated him as one of the 2005 famous people in Montreal.
