Kogan Iosif Aronovich (August 14, 1947, Riga) — worker.

Iosif Kogan was born into the family of a shoemaker, Aron Khaimovich Kogan (b. 1904, Dvinsk — now Daugavpils) and a factory worker, Tsira Moiseevna Moskovitz (née Hamburg; first marriage – Dunes, second – Kogan) (b. 1908, Dvinsk).

He completed nine grades of secondary school (exact dates not listed). Worked in Riga as an apprentice metalworker at the Riga Carriage-Building Plant (1963–1964), and as a metalworker at the Repair and Operational Fleet Base of the River Shipping Company (1964–1965).

In 1965, he was convicted under Article 141 of the Criminal Code of the Latvian SSR, served his sentence, and was released early (1965–1968). Afterward, he worked as a driver at the Railway Hospital (1969–1970) and the Riga House of Fashion Models (1970), and later as a metalworker at the Municipal Waterworks Department (1970–1971).

In 1971, Iosif Kogan received permission to emigrate to Israel, where his aunt — his mother’s cousin Meri Gurvitz (b. 1908, Dvinsk) — resided.

Family:

Aron Khaimovich Kogan (b. 1904, Dvinsk) - father

Tsira Moiseevna Moskovitz (née Hamburg; first marriage – Dunes, second – Kogan) (b. 1908, Dvinsk) - mother

Vera Yakovlevna Latskaya (née Dunes) (b. 1928, Riga) -half-sister (maternal)

Mendel-Leib Yankelovich Dunes (b. 1931, Riga) - half-brother (maternal)

Shleima-Avrom Yankelovich Dunes (b. 1934, Riga — went missing in 1941, Dvinsk) - half-brother (maternal)

Meri Gurvitz (b. 1908, Dvinsk) -aunt (mother’s cousin)