Mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win World War Two by cracking Nazi Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma code, was granted a rare royal pardon on Tuesday for a criminal conviction for homosexuality that led to his suicide.
Turing's electromechanical machine, a forerunner of modern computers, unraveled the code used by German U-boats in the Atlantic. His work at Bletchley Park, Britain's wartime codebreaking centre, was credited with shortening the war.
However, he was stripped of his job and chemically castrated with injections of female hormones after being convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man. Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967.
Turing killed himself in 1954, aged 41, with cyanide.
Justice Minister Chris Grayling said the pardon from Queen Elizabeth would come into effect immediately and was a fitting tribute to "an exceptional man with a brilliant mind".
Without this great man we may have lost the war.
And without his contribution to modern day computing, I may not have been able to share this long overdue good news with all of you.
Remember when next you hear a conservative go on and on about the "good old days" that those old days were not good for everybody. And the times we are living in today are the ones that progressives have been fighting to drag us to for decades.
Yeah, nothing like the good old days of chemical castration, workhouses and poor farms where the elderly, disabled and 'poor' can be worked as slaves without pay.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget debtor's prison.
DeleteIf you were a beaten wife you were told by clergy and doctors to go home and try harder. If you were black you'd better know your place and keep your head down. If you were gay you were invisible and if you tried to be otherwise, jail or the mental hospital was waiting. If you were a child abused by a priest you said nothing because nobody would believe you.
ReplyDeleteThe "good old days" were good to no one but white heterosexual males. And even among them, the more means you had, the more the country was yours.
I am happy to hear about this!
ReplyDelete"Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967. "
ReplyDeleteWhich was especially strange given England's history of gay activity, including certain members of the royal family as well as many famous celebrities. Religion had to have been the underlying factor.
A long sad story. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for two years, broke him in so many ways, died in 1900 at the age of 46. Like Alan Turing, his persecution deprived us of unimagined talents.
DeleteWild Tortoise
I rejoice. Now if we could only free Leonard Peltier--BEFORE he dies.
ReplyDeleteHow many more brilliant minds will we waste through persecution, hatred, misogyny, and bigotry? It's a miracle the 'human' race has survived as long as it has given that we try to eliminate those that are so talented but don't fit in with our vision of 'normal'. That definition also seems to change with each generation of enlightened thinking, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteIs this move to soothe the Queen's conscience? Briton's conscience?
ReplyDeleteFuck Queen Elizabeth and fuck England. This pardon didn't do anything to save the life of the man who helped save them from Hitler. It doesn't honor him in any way. Almost makes me wish the Nazis had invaded England and showed them some the Brits some real bigotry.
Turing was an exceptional man, and I hope this honor is given to all who were prosecuted under these horrible laws. Hopefully now Truing will truly Rest In Peace.
ReplyDeleteWhile I realize that this pardon is far too late for Alan Turing, it is still a step in the right direction. Hate has ruled far too long, and continues to fester in the American South and the tea party bigots. We have nothing to be proud of here.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the point of pardoning someone after their death? Is just PR?
ReplyDeleteThough it's long overdue, why even bother after their tortue and imprisonment drove the man to suicide? A bit too little, but it does correct a wrong in history books. His life mattered, his talent saved lives, the man deserved adulation while he lived.
ReplyDeleteA man of such intelligence, talent, commitment, service....A Hero.... to have been subject to such terrible treatment that he committed suicide. That's tragic.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to understand more about the truly vital and brilliant role that Alan Turing played in the breaking of Nazi coded messages, watch this short video on the amazing analog computing machine that he invented to be able to help break codes
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFol3gH1pg
There are a couple of good books related too:
http://www.amazon.com/Enigma-Robert-Harris/dp/0804115486/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387972730&sr=1-1&keywords=enigma
http://www.amazon.com/Enigma-Battle-Code-Hugh-Sebag-Montefiore-ebook/dp/B00D8DP3ZI/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
Turing's work in Bletchley Park, along with the other codebreakers and the thousands of supporting staff was of incalculable value to all the Allied forces.
It's a disgrace that he was not awarded a life time pension and a place of honor in post war Britain.
Sorry for the D/P.
ReplyDeletethere are dozens of fascinating videos on Youtube about the life and tragic death of this true genius and hero of WWII.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=turing&sm=12