The father of computer science beat Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela to be named BBC Two’s Icon
Alan Turing, the father of computer science who was also gay, was named the most ‘iconic’ figure of the 20th Century on Tuesday (5 February).
Public voting during a live broadcast of BBC Two’s Icons: The Greatest Person Of The 20th Century chose the scientist.
Turing was instrumental in cracking Nazi codes during World War 2. But, he was later chemically castrated for being gay and is believed to have committed suicide.
‘He was a man who worked almost entirely in secret, who received little credit for cracking the Nazi codes and shortening the war and who died having been branded a criminal’ said presenter Nick Robinson.
‘Today he is the most celebrated figure of the 20th century, a father of computing, war hero and genius’.
He beat figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Ernest Shackleton, Pablo Picasso, David Bowie, and Muhammad Ali.
Pardoned
In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II pardoned Turing for his 1952 conviction for having sex with another man.
In World War 2, Turing broke Adolf Hitler’s Enigma codes thus shortening it by up to two years. He likely saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
After the war, in 1952, authorities prosecuted Turing for being gay. They forced him to undergo reparative therapy to try to cure his sexuality. He accepted chemical castration as an alternative to prison.
He is believed to have committed suicide two years later; after it was found he died from cyanide poisoning.
Some 49,000 gay men, now dead, were convicted for homosexuality. They include poet, wit and playwright Oscar Wilde.
by Rik Glauert
Source – Gay Star News
