Background
She was born into a Jewish family in Manchester in 1927.
She was born into a Jewish family in Manchester in 1927.
She was educated at Manchester High School for Girls and Colwyn Bay Grammar School and then read law at Manchester University.
Cohen went on to become one of the first female judges and QCs in the United Kingdom, who was a pioneer for women in the legal profession. In 1970 she became the 5th women in the United Kingdom to be appointed a Queen's Counsel. At the age of 44 she became the youngest judge in the United Kingdom at that time. She presided over numerous high-profile cases at many courts in both Newcastle and London, including the Old Bailey and as resident Judge in Harrow.
In 1992 she became the first person to receive an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Sunderland.
In 2001 she starred as the Judge in the television programme "Trial by Jury". Cohen was very active in the Jewish community as President of the international association of Jewish lawyers and jurors.
She led the campaign in the United Kingdom for agunot (Jewish women whose husbands will not allow them to remarry). The bill was completed and stamped by the Queen in August 2002.
She died two months later, in October 2002, and was buried at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.
A new road in Sunderland, called Myrella Crescent, was named in honour.