A TEASPOON removed from the home of Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing after his suicide is to go on display.
The scientist’s mother removed the item after he poisoned himself with cyanide in 1954.
Also going on show is a school report in which Turing, who went on to carry out groundbreaking work in cracking the Enigma encryption used by the Nazis, is encouraged to provide “sound knowledge rather than vague ideas”.
The report from Sherborne School in Dorset said the scientist showed “distinct promise” in maths but his teacher scolded his presentation style, reminding him to provide a “neat and tidy solution on paper”.
Turing, whose story was told in the film The Imitation Game, is widely regarded as the father of modern computing. The spoon and report will go on show alongside other personal items and rarely seen coding devices at an exhibition called Codebreakers And Groundbreakers in Cambridge. It will be made up of pieces on loan from the Turing Archive held at King’s College in the city.
Letters from Turing to his mother – sent from Britain’s former codebreaking headquarters Bletchley Park and telling of his sponsorship of two Jewish refugees – will also be on show.
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