Albert D. Cohen

Albert Diamond Cohen, OC LLD (January 20, 1914 – November 21, 2011) was a Canadian entrepreneur, community builder, philanthropist, and Officer of the Order of Canada.

He was Chairman, Co-President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Gendis Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange listed Canadian real estate and investment company headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

At one time, Gendis held a 51% stake in Sony of Canada and owned the SAAN Stores retail chain.

His interest and talent for writing stemmed from his close personal friendship with the late British author Ian Fleming.

Spotting an ad in a Japanese newspaper seeking a distributor for a new portable transistor radio, Cohen met with Sony co-founder, Akio Morita.

Several of his notable accomplishments include: While Cohen has collected an array of awards for business achievements and community service during his life, he was particularly proud of the fact that he holds three Canadian speed skating records in Master 5 Class (over 70 age category), as per the Ottawa Amateur Speedskating Association.