Melissa Cohen Biden

Melissa Batya Cohen Biden (b. circa 1986)[1] is a South African-American activist and documentary filmmaker. Originally from Johannesburg, Biden works as an environmental activist and nature conservationist. She was the co-owner of Tribal Worlds, a Los Angeles-based company that promoted indigenous conservation until it dissolved in 2021. In 2016, she produced the documentary film series Tribal Lands, but the project was cancelled before making it to streaming platforms. In 2019, she became the second wife of Hunter Biden, a son of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Melissa Cohen Biden
Biden at the Inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021.
Borncirca 1986 (age 36-37)
Johannesburg, South Africa
EducationGreenside Design Center College of Design
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)activist, filmmaker
Spouse
Jason Lavender
​
​
(m. 2011; div. 2014)​
​
(m. 2019)​
Children1
Parent(s)Lee Cohen
Zoe Cohen
FamilyBiden (by marriage)

Early life and education

Biden was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She lived in an orphanage for a year before being adopted by Lee and Zoe Cohen, a South African Jewish couple with three sons.[2][3] She was raised in the Jewish faith and attended a Jewish day school before studying interior design at Greenside Design Center College of Design.[4] She moved to Los Angeles when she was twenty-one years old to attend a supplementary program in Horticulture at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

Biden is an advocate for environmental and nature conservation groups.[4] She was a member of Greenpeace and is the co-owner of Tribal Worlds, a Los Angeles-based company that promotes indigenous conservation. She has also done activist work against poaching.

Biden worked on a documentary titled Tribal Lands, aiming to introduce viewers to indigenous tribal communities in Africa. The project was canceled in 2016 and the film never made it to streaming platforms.[5]

Personal life

While enrolled at UCLA, she met an American businessman named Jason Lavender, and married him in 2011.[6]

In 2019, she met Hunter Biden, a son of then-former U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. On May 16, 2019, six days after meeting, they married in a ceremony held at her apartment in Los Angeles.[7][8][9] Neither's family were present at the ceremony, but the couple called Joe Biden afterwards, and he congratulated them.[1][10] Their son, Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden IV -named after Biden's deceased brother Beau- was born in March 2020 in Los Angeles.[11][12] She is also the stepmother to her husband's three daughters, Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy, from his first marriage to Kathleen Buhle,[1] as well as an unnamed daughter from Biden's affair with Lunden Alexis Roberts, who gave birth to the child in August 2018 in Arkansas.[13]

She attended the Inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021.[12]

Biden speaks Xhosa, Hebrew, Italian, and English.[2] She and her family live in Little Rock, Malibu, California.[14] In 2019 she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[1]

References
  1. "Exclusive: Hunter Biden talks getting married after 6 days and why his life is in 'the best place I've ever been'". ABC News. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. "What Hunter Biden's memoir tells us about Melissa Cohen, his Jewish wife". The Forward. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. Miltz, Nicola (3 June 2021). "Biden's daughter-in-law in SA for mom's funeral". Jewish Report. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. Keren David (9 November 2020). "Joe Biden's very Jewish family". The Jewish Chronicle.
  5. Kaloi, Stephanie (13 February 2021). "Who Is Hunter Biden's Wife, Melissa Cohen?". The List. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  6. "Who Is Melissa Cohen? Filmmaker And Hunter Biden's Wife". Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  7. "Hunter Biden Just Married His Girlfriend of One Month". W Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  8. Newman, Meredith (July 1, 2019). "Hunter Biden talks about his addiction, 'I was in that darkness'". The News-Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  9. Heil, Emily (June 12, 2019). "Hunter Biden's messy personal life is back in the news. Will it cause political headaches for his dad?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  10. Pagones, Stephanie (13 February 2020). "Who is Hunter Biden's wife, Melissa Cohen Biden?". FOXBusiness. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. Carlson, Adam (April 1, 2020). "Joe Biden's Son Hunter & His Wife Welcome a Son Less Than a Year After Whirlwind Wedding: Report". People. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  12. Stump, Scott (January 21, 2021). "Joe Biden and baby grandson share precious moment at inauguration — and his name is Beau". Today. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  13. "Judge signs order declaring paternity in Hunter Biden case". Texarkana Gazette. January 7, 2020. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  14. Nerozzi, Timothy (23 July 2022). "Hunter Biden makes rare public outing amid investigation". Fox News. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
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