This eminent mathematician is known for his decisive contributions to decrypting coded messages from the Axis forces during the Second World War—a role for which Bank of England Governor Mark Carney now calls him a "war hero".
Alan Turing is widely regarded as one of the fathers of computer science: as early as 1936, he introduced the concept of the Turing machine, the theoretical precursor of the computer, and in 1950 he worked on the practical development of the first "computing machines." In 1952, he was convicted for being homosexual and agreed to undergo chemical castration to avoid prison. He died of poisoning in 1954. The autopsy concluded that he had taken his own life. Alan Turing is therefore not only an outstanding scientist but also a symbol of the persecution suffered by British homosexuals in the 20th century.
