Paul Cohen (historian)

Paul A. Cohen (Chinese name: Chinese: 柯文; pinyin: Kē Wén, June 2, 1934 – September 15, 2025) was an American historian of China. He was the Edith Stix Wasserman Professor of Asian Studies and History at Wellesley College and Associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. His research interests included 19–20th century China; historical thought; American historiography on China. He wrote influential books on modern Chinese history, as well as historiography, such as Discovering History in China (1984; 2010). His works have been translated into several languages including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

In 2007, The Chinese Historical Review devoted a Festschift issue to his works.