The £50 note featuring WWII code-breaker Alan Turing will be released on June 23rd – his birthday.
The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey unveiled the note.
He said: “There’s something of the character of a nation in its money and were right to consider and celebrate the people on out banknotes….
“By placing him [Turing] on our new polymer £50 banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the values he symbolises.”
Turing cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.
The Nazis used the code thinking that it was unbreakable.
But Turing and a dedicated team of Britain’s cleverest people worked it out, enabling them to read Germany’s top-secret messages.
The colossal achievement is thought to have shortened WWII by four years.
Despite his triumph Turing was persecuted for being gay.
He was charged with a homosexual incident in 1952 and underwent chemical castration.
Also, he was barred from working at GCHQ.
He died two years later from cyanide poisoning – probably by his own hand.
After a long campaign by supporters, he was granted a posthumous Royal Pardon in 2013.
Director of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming said the note is a “landmark moment” in history.
He said: “Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being
gay.
“His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive.”
Benedict Cumberbatch played the scientist in the 2014 film, The Imitation Game.
