Alan Turing Memorial

About

The Alan Turing Memorial, situated in Sackville Gardens in Manchester, UK, is a sculpture in memory of Alan Turing, a pioneer of modern computing. Turing is believed to have taken his own life in 1954, two years after being convicted of gross indecency (i.e. homosexual acts). As such, he is as much a gay icon as an icon of computing, and the memorial is situated near to Canal Street, Manchester's gay village.

Turing is depicted sitting on a bench situated in a central position in the park, holding an apple. On Turing's left is the former Sackville Street Building of the University of Manchester, and on his right is Canal Street. Sculptor Glyn Hughes said the park was chosen as the location for the statue because "it's got the university science buildings...on one side, and it's got all the gay bars on the other side, where apparently he spent most of his evenings." The statue was unveiled on 23 June, Turing's birthday, in 2001. It was conceived by Richard Humphry, a barrister from Stockport, who set up the Alan Turing Memorial Fund in order to raise the necessary funds. Humphry had come up with the idea of a statue after seeing Hugh Whitemore's play Breaking the Code, starring Derek...