Alan Turing, pioneer of computer science found to be gay and castrated, was pardoned

[Nelson Vergel]

Nearly 60 years after his death, Alan Turing, the British mathematician regarded as one of the central figures in the development of the computer, received a formal pardon from Queen Elizabeth II on Monday for his conviction in 1952 on charges of homosexuality, at the time a criminal offense in Britain.When Mr. Turing was convicted in 1952, he was sentenced — as an alternative to prison — to chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He also lost his security clearance because of the conviction. He committed suicide by eating an apple believed to have been laced with cyanide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/w...-computer-pioneer-wins-royal-pardon.html?_r=0