Poppo
In the Cooler
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- Mar 17, 2012
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Finally pardoned 59 years after his suicide. It happens to the British pioneer of computer science Alan Turing. Queen Elizabeth II signed the "posthumous royal pardon" to the scientist, who helped to win the Second World War the Allies but was later prosecuted on charges of homosexuality.
During the war, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the center where they had deciphered the secret codes of the Nazis. After the war, however, in 1952, he was convicted for "gross indecency," he saw withdrew the security clearance, granting him access to sensitive data, and was forced to take female hormones, subjected to so-called castration chemistry. In 1954, at age 41, committed suicide by eating an apple poisoned with cyanide. Homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK in 1967.
In 2009 came the posthumous apology by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who spoke of the treatment "inhumane", while in December last year eleven scientists including Stephen Hawking appealed for a posthumous pardon. "Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," said the British Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, in a statement. By defining unfair the way he was treated, he added that "deserves to be remembered and recognized for his great contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science."
During the war, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the center where they had deciphered the secret codes of the Nazis. After the war, however, in 1952, he was convicted for "gross indecency," he saw withdrew the security clearance, granting him access to sensitive data, and was forced to take female hormones, subjected to so-called castration chemistry. In 1954, at age 41, committed suicide by eating an apple poisoned with cyanide. Homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK in 1967.
In 2009 came the posthumous apology by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who spoke of the treatment "inhumane", while in December last year eleven scientists including Stephen Hawking appealed for a posthumous pardon. "Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," said the British Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, in a statement. By defining unfair the way he was treated, he added that "deserves to be remembered and recognized for his great contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science."