Alan Turing (1912-06-23 - 1954-05-07; Q7251 on Wikidata) was a brilliant British mathematician
who laid foundations for computer science and
is generally considered the father of the field. He created the
mathematical model of a computer (Turing's machine), showed its
computational limits, and predicted the importance of computers and artificial intelligence. His ideas were far ahead of
his time and became fully appreciated only much later, after his death.
He also significantly helped with cracking Nazi ciphers during World War
II.
Despite being a large reason why the British, and by extension the Allies, were able to defeat Nazi Germany and the Axis powers, life after the war was unkind to Turing. 1952 saw him being prosecuted for anti-homosexual acts, being forced to take hormone treatment so he would be chemically castrated.
In June 1954, Alan Turing died due to cyanide poisoning, which many suspected to be a suicide. An official public apology for the way he was treated was given in 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and then he was pardoned in 2013 by Queen Elizabeth II.
This page was last edited on 2026-09-09 02:57:51.
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