RENOWNED Oxford philosopher Gerald Cohen has died, aged 68, after a stroke.

Prof Cohen was perhaps best known as a leading contributor to the analytical Marxist movement of the 1980s.

In 1978, he published his most influential book, Karl Marx’s Theory of History: A Defence.

His funeral took place on Tuesday at All Souls College, where he was Emeritus Fellow and formerly Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, as well as Fellow of the College from 1985 to 2008.

A memorial service will take place at the college later in the year.

Prof Cohen, who died on August 5, was born and educated in Montreal.

He came to Oxford in 1961, to study philosophy, and was taught by Gilbert Ryle and Isaiah Berlin.

Richard Wollheim, the head of the philosophy department at University College, London, an old friend of Berlin’s, was introduced to Mr Cohen and offered him a lectureship.

Prof Cohen spent the next two decades at one of the liveliest philosophy departments, where he honed the ideas that made analytical Marxism an intellectual force.

In 1984, he was elected to the Chichele Professorship of Social and Political Theory in Oxford, and took up the position early in 1985, the same year he was elected to the British Academy.

At All Souls he enjoyed the company of philosophers Derek Parfit and Leszek Kolakowski, and the many visitors to the college.

Prof Cohen was popular as a lecturer, combining personal charm and a wit that made tricky philosophical points intelligible.

He spent years working on Rescuing Justice and Equality, which is viewed as an accomplished piece of work.

Prof Cohen was married twice. In 1965, he married Margaret Pearce, with whom he had a son and two daughters. His second marriage was to Michele Jacottet in 1999.