The rainbow flag proudly flies over the Bank of England, in the heart of London’s financial district, to commemorate Alan Turing, the new face of the World War II 50-pound note.
LONDON – The rainbow flag proudly flies over the Bank of England on Thursday, in the heart of London’s financial district, to commemorate Alan Turing, the new face of the World War II 50-pound note.
The design of the banknote was announced before it was formally released to the public on June 23, Turing’s anniversary. The 50-pound note is the most valuable denomination in circulation, but is little used during daily transactions, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, as digital exchanges increasingly replaced cash use.
The new banknote, laden with high-level security features, completes the bank’s rejection of its stable paper currency in recent years. Turing’s image joins that of Winston Churchill on the five-pound note, novelist Jane Austen on the 10-pound note, and artist JMW Turner on the 20-pound note. All notes are made of polymer instead of paper, which means they should last longer and stay in better condition thanks to their use.
The new note incorporates two windows and a two-color sheet that, according to the designers, will make counterfeiting difficult. There is also a hologram image that switches between the words “fifty” and “free” as the note tilts from side to side, as well as an embedded microchip to pay homage to Turing’s role at birth. of computers.
Turing was selected as the new face of the 50-pound note in 2019 after a public nomination process, recognizing his pivotal role in breaking Nazi Germany’s Enigma code during World War II. The code was believed to be unbreakable as the encryption was constantly changing. Historians say breaking the code may have helped shorten the war by at least two years, and it can save millions of lives.
The roughly 250,000 votes in support of Turing’s nomination also represented a recognition of the discrimination he faced as a gay man after the war.
“There’s something about a nation’s character in its money, and we’re right in considering and celebrating the people of our banknotes,” said Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
“Turing is best known for his code-breaking work at Bletchley Park, which helped end World War II. However, he was also an important mathematician, developmental biologist and pioneer in the field of computer science. He was also gay and, as a result, was treated terribly. “
During World War II, Turing worked at the secret code-breaking center in Bletchley Park, where he helped break Enigma by creating the “Turing bomb,” a forerunner of modern computers. He also developed the “Turing Test” to measure artificial intelligence.
After the war, he was prosecuted for homosexuality, which was then illegal, and was forcibly treated with female hormones, a form of chemical castration. His conviction led to the withdrawal of his security permit and meant he could no longer work at the government communications headquarters (GCHQ). He died at the age of 41 in 1954, after eating an apple with cyanide.
Turing received a posthumous apology from the British government in 2009 and a royal pardon in 2013. Four years later the Turing Act was passed, which pardoned gay men with past convictions.
Actor and author Stephen Fry said Turing’s choice to appear on the £ 50 mark marks a further step in recognizing “this man so great,” which the country has long had.
In a YouTube video posted by the Bank of England, Fry set out the levels of discrimination and “barbaric punishments” that gay men faced during the years following World War II.
“Alan Turing was one of the thousands of men who were harassed and harangued by the authorities,” he said.
“Not only because of the hostile attitude towards their sexuality alone, but also under the fanatical belief that there was a link between homosexuality and communism,” Fry added.
Over the past decade, Turing’s life has been known to a much wider audience, especially in the wake of the 2014 film “The Imitation Game,” which saw Benedict Cumberbatch play the role of Turing.
His nephew James Turing, who runs the Turing Trust, which is reforming British computers for use in African schools, said the Bank of England’s decision was an “incredible honor” for his family.
“It certainly highlights the enormity of Alan’s legacy, which we hope we are doing something through the Turing Trust of which I would be proud to continue to allow access to a digital world,” he told BBC radio .