Marianne Christine Stang Ihlen was a Norwegian woman who was the first wife of author Axel Jensen and later the muse and girlfriend of Leonard Cohen for several years in the 1960s.
She was the subject of Cohen’s 1967 song “So Long, Marianne”.
Who was Leonard Cohen’s partner when he died?
While Ihlen had been in Norway, Leonard Cohen had moved to Hydra, renting a house for US$14 a month. While he had noticed her following her return, they had never been introduced. Ihlen described their meeting in Katsikas’ store in early 1960.
Cohen and Ihlen remained close, with him paying her rent and her son’s boarding schools in England and Switzerland as well as his airfare.
He took her for visits to the Chelsea Hotel, and to concerts, and introduced her to Andy Warhol, Joni Mitchell and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
As Cohen’s fame increased, other women would ring Ihlen’s apartment in an attempt to get to him. While they drifted apart as lovers, Cohen would continue to support Ihlen and provide whatever help he could.
Their relationship finally ended in 1972 after the birth of Cohen’s son Adam, who was born from his relationship with Suzanne Elrod.
