From the BBC:
“Alan Turing: Bust unveiled at
Sherborne School”
(Sir John Dermot Turing and
sculptor David Williams-Ellis unveil the bust)
A bronze bust of Alan Turing has
been unveiled at his former school. The sculpture of the computer pioneer and
wartime codebreaker now stands on a plinth in the grounds of Sherborne School
in Sherborne, Dorset. It comes after local resident Kathryn Ballisat, inspired
by Turing's story and connection to the town, commissioned the work. The bust
also coincides with the new £50 note bearing his image which entered
circulation this week. Sculptor David Williams-Ellis and Turing's nephew Sir
John Dermot Turing unveiled the bust. Sir John described the work as the
"best" statue or sculpture he had ever seen of his uncle and
"inspiring". Mr Williams-Ellis, who is also behind the sculpture
commemorating the D-Day Landings at Ver-sur-Mer, said he wanted to capture a
"wistful feeling that just doesn't quite tell you the whole story".
(Alan Turing was posthumously
pardoned in 2013)
The work of Turing helped
accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the
Enigma machine. His work is said to have been key to shortening World War Two
and saving lives. Less celebrated is the pivotal role he played in the
development of early computers, first at the National Physical Laboratory and
later at the University of Manchester. In 2013, he was given a posthumous royal
pardon for his 1952 conviction for gross indecency. He had been arrested after
having an affair with a 19-year-old Manchester man, and was forced to take
female hormones as an alternative to prison. He died at the age of 41. An
inquest recorded his death as suicide. Last year a settlement in the US
confirmed items belonging to Turing, including school reports, his OBE and
photographs, would be returned to the school's archive after they were stolen
in 1985.
^ This is a long over-due honor
for a man who did so much for the UK and the world and was treated so horribly
by them all for decades. ^
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