On the banknotes, Turing will replace James Watt and Matthew Boulton, the pioneers of the steam engine. It will be possible to pay with these banknotes until September next year.
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By deciphering the Enigma code, Turing helped the Allies to end World War II earlier, thus saving many lives. Thanks to his work, the British knew about the movement and goals of Nazi troops.
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Estrogen instead of prison
Turing also played a role later in the development of early computers at the University of Manchester. Its placement on the banknote is intended to symbolize diversity. Turing was gay, and the Central Bank of London hoisted a rainbow flag over his building in his honor on Wednesday when the banknotes came into circulation. She praised the improvement from the state’s appalling treatment of homosexuals.
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Turing was sentenced to two years in prison in 1952 for maintaining a love affair with a 19-year-old man in Manchester. Homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time. Instead of being in prison, a BBC mathematician forced him to take the female hormone estrogen to lower his libido.
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A work of art depicting a portrait of Alan Turing
Foto: Crown Copyright 2021, Reuters
In 1954, Turing was found dead at the age of 41. Investigators recorded his death as a suicide, he was to be poisoned by an apple, which he dipped in cyanide.
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“Alan Turing was a genius who helped shorten the war and influence the technology that still shapes our lives,” said Jeremy Fleming, director of the British intelligence agency.
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Turing received an apology posthumously. In 2009 from then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and in 2013 he was granted royal pardon for his 1952 conviction.
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