…Alan Mathison Turing (1912-1954)

The Enigma Man and the Machine

Alan Mathison Turing was by all accounts a genius. He was educated at King's College in Cambridge, followed by a Ph.D. in logic at Princeton. His contributions to society changed the course of World War II and pioneered the age of computers. He was also a "known homosexual".

Alan Turing the Mathematician

In 1936 Turing published one of this century's most significant mathematical papers "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidundsproblem (the problem of decidability)". It introduced the idea of a universal machine, now known as a "Turing Machine", that could execute a series of operations on sequences of binary digits.

Alan Turing the Intelligence Officer

In 1939, Turing joined the British government's Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park in Oxfordshire where he led the effort to crack the "Enigma Code". The Enigma machine was to used to decipher German radio messages during World War II. As a result, Allied convoys could avoid German U-boats for safe passage in the North Atlantic. Turing was admired by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. For his contributions to his country during the war, Turing was honored with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) recognition.

Alan Turing the Computer Pioneer

After the war Turing worked on the Automatic Computing Engine at the National Physical Laboratory. In 1948 Turing began work at Manchester University. He was the director of the MADAM (Manchester Automatic Digital Machine) project. Turing and Professor F.C. Williams developed the first successful prototype computer (later manufactured by Ferranti of Manchester, England). Alan Turing is regarded as the master mind behind the project.

Alan Turing the Security Risk

Throughout his professional career, Turing was a "known homosexual". He was put under surveillance at Manchester University because it was believed that his homosexuality made him a security risk. In the early half of the 1950's, McCarthyism (named for Sen. Joseph McCarthy - R. Wisconsin) was in full bloom in America. The loyalties of government officials and careers were ruined in a political campaign that would mark one of the ugliest chapters in the nation's history. The witch hunts crossed national boundaries. America pressured the British government to rid their intelligence establishment of security risks - including homosexuals.

The Persecution of Alan Turing

In 1952, Turing's home was burglarized by a friend of a man with whom he was having an affair. Refusing to be intimidated, he reported the crime. During the investigation, he did not hide his homosexuality from the police. He was labeled a pervert and was charged with gross indecency. He agreed to submit to hormone treatments rather than go to prison. He was injected with the female hormone estrogen. It was believed that estrogen injections were useful in curbing sexual urges.

The stress and humiliation of his treatment at the hands of the government that he served loyally throughout his life led to his mental deterioration. Alan Mathison Turing committed suicide by eating an apple laced with cyanide in 1954. He was 41 years old.

In 1994 a section of road in Manchester was renamed in his memory as "Alan Turing Way".

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