Alan Turing , a British code-breaker during World War II who was later subjected to chemical castration for homosexual activity , has received a royal pardon nearly 60 years after he committed suicide . Turing was best known for developing the Bombe , a code-breaking machine that deciphered messages encoded by German machines . His work is considered by many to have saved thousands of lives and helped change the course of the war . `` Dr. Turing deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science , '' British Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement Tuesday . `` A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man . '' Turing 's castration in 1952 -- after he was convicted of homosexual activity , which was illegal at the time -- is `` a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed , '' Grayling said . Two years after the castration , which Turing chose to avoid a custodial sentence , he ended his life at the age of 41 by eating an apple laced with cyanide . Supporters have long campaigned for Turing to receive greater recognition for his work and official acknowledgment that his punishment was wrong . An online petition in 2009 that drew tens of thousands of signatures succeeded in getting an apology from then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Turing 's treatment by the justice system in the 1950s . Brown described the Turing sentence as `` appalling . '' The German messages that Turing cracked at the British government 's code-breaking headquarters in Bletchley Park provided the Allies with crucial information . The German messages were encoded by Enigma machines , which Adolf Hitler 's military believed made its communications impenetrable . Turing was considered a mathematical genius . In 1937 he published a paper introducing an idea that came to be known as the Turing machine , which is considered to have formed the basis of modern computing . This was a hypothetical device that could come up with a solution to any problem that is computable . `` Alan Turing was a remarkable man who played a key role in saving this country in World War II by cracking the German enigma code , '' British Prime Minister David Cameron said . `` His action saved countless lives . He also left a remarkable national legacy through his substantial scientific achievements , often being referred to as the 'father of modern computing . ' '' The prestigious A.M. Turing Award -- sometimes called the `` Nobel Prize '' of Computing -- was named after Turing . The pardon , under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy , comes into effect Tuesday , the British Ministry of Justice said .
Alan Turing 's code-breaking is credited with helping to end World War II . He killed himself in 1954 after being chemically castrated for homosexual activity . Nearly 60 years later , he receives a posthumous royal pardon . Britain says the pardon is `` a fitting tribute to an exceptional man ''