RT by @mikenov: RT by @mikenov: Alan Turing (b. 23 June 1912) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, theoretical biologist, long distance runner and genius. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science. Born in London, Turing was raised in southern England. He graduated from King’s College, Cambridge, and in 1938, earned a doctorate degree from Princeton University. During World War II, he worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking center that produced Ultra intelligence. He led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis and played a crucial role

Alan Turing (b. 23 June 1912) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, theoretical biologist, long distance runner and genius. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science.

Born in London, Turing was raised in southern England. He graduated from King’s College, Cambridge, and in 1938, earned a doctorate degree from Princeton University. During World War II, he worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking center that produced Ultra intelligence. He led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis and played a crucial role in cracking intercepted messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in the Battle of the Atlantic and other engagements. His achievements shortened the war by at least two years and saved thousands of lives. But despite these accomplishments, he was never fully recognized during his lifetime because much of his work was covered by the Official Secrets Act.

In December 1951, Alan was walking along Manchester’s Oxford Road when he met Arnold Murray, a 19-year-old unemployed man, just outside the Regal Cinema. A conversation ensued and Alan invited Arnold to lunch. Afterward, the two agreed to meet again, and they soon began an intimate relationship. On 23 January 1952, Alan’s house in Wilmslow was burglarized. Murray told Turing that he and the burglar were acquainted, and Turing reported the crime to the police. During the inquiry, he acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray, a fact that proved to be “red meat” for the police, who immediately turned a simple burglary investigation into a major criminal offence, and both Alan and Arnold were charged with “gross indecency” under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. Initial proceedings were held on 27 February, the case was brought to trial on 31 March 1952, and Turing was convicted and given a choice between imprisonment or probation (which would include his agreement to undergo chemical castration). He accepted the option of probation and the injections of synthetic estrogen, which, over the prescribed course of one year, began to develop breast tissue and rendered him impotent. Arnold Murray, on the other hand, was given a conditional discharge.

Although he kept his academic post, Turing’s conviction led to the removal of his security clearance and barred him from continuing with his cryptographic consultancy for GCHQ (the British signals intelligence agency that had evolved from GC&CS in 1946).

After his conviction, Turing was denied entry into the United States but was free to visit other European countries. In the summer of 1952, he visited Norway which was more tolerant of homosexuals, and among the various men he met there, he connected with one named Kjell Carlson. Kjell made plans to visit Turing in the UK, but the British authorities intercepted Kjell’s postcard detailing his travel arrangements and deported him before he and Alan could meet.

This was how Britain treated its war heroes.

On 7 June 1954, at age 41, Alan was found dead in his home, a victim of cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined the cause was suicide, but the evidence strongly suggested it was accidental. This continues to be a matter of debate. While he certainly had cause to end his life, many of those closest to him believe he had come to terms with his situation and was making plans for the future. He had also given no hint of suicidal inclinations to his friends and had made no effort to put his affairs in order.

In the end, on 26 July 2012, MP John Leech introduced a bill in the House of Commons to grant a statutory pardon to Turing for the offences of which he was convicted. At the bill’s second reading on 29 November 2013, a Conservative MP objected, delaying its passage. The bill was due to return to Parliament in February 2014, but before it could be debated in the House, the government elected to proceed under the “Royal Prerogative of Mercy” – resulting in a pardon for Turing signed by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 December 2013 with immediate effect. In 2016, the government announced its intention to expand this retroactive exoneration to other men convicted of similar historical indecency offences, in what was now being described as the “Alan Turing Law”, and on 19 July 2023, following an apology to LGBT veterans from the UK Government, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace suggested Turing should be honored with a permanent statue on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square, describing him as “probably the greatest hero, in my book, of the Second World War.”

All that was great, but it took the Brits more than half a century to come to terms with Alan Turing – the genius, the homosexual, the hero.🏳️‍🌈

— @jmlx_john2 Jun 23, 2026