2009/10/11

UK gov’t apologizes to gay codebreaker Alan Turing 英國政府向同志密碼破解者杜林道歉

◎俞智敏

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered a posthumous apology recently for the "inhumane" treatment of Alan Turing, the World War II codebreaker who committed suicide in 1954 after being prosecuted for homosexuality and forcibly treated with female hormones.

英國首相布朗最近為已故的二次世界大戰密碼破解者杜林所遭到的「不人道」待遇道歉,杜林被依同性戀罪名起訴,並被迫接受女性荷爾蒙治療,於1954年自殺身亡。

The mathematician helped crack Nazi Germany’s Enigma encryption machine — a turning point in the war — and is considered a father of modern computing.

這位數學家協助解開了納粹德國代號「謎」的密碼機,這是戰爭的轉捩點,他也被視為是現代電腦之父。

In 1952, however, Turing was convicted of gross indecency for having sex with a man and offered a choice between prison and "chemical castration" — the injection of female hormones to suppress his libido. His security clearance was revoked and he was no longer allowed to work for the government.

但1952年杜林卻因與男子發生性行為,被依行為不檢罪名起訴,他必須選擇入獄服刑或接受「化學閹割」,也就是注射女性荷爾蒙來壓制性慾。他的安全許可也被撤銷,無法再替政府工作。

Two years later, he killed himself at age 41 by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

兩年後,他吃下攙了氰化物的蘋果自殺,得年41歲。

"It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War II could well have been very different," Brown said. "He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war."

布朗表示,「假如沒有他(杜林)的傑出貢獻,二戰歷史恐怕會完全不同,此話一點也不誇張。」「他的確是我們可以指出,憑其獨特貢獻協助扭轉了戰爭局勢的少數人之一。」

新聞辭典

crack:動詞,指破解(密碼)、解開(難題等),如They cracked the code and read the secret message.(他們破解了密碼,讀取秘密訊息。)

clearance: 名詞,指取得官方同意從事某種行為,或符合官方對某事設定的條件,如The plane will be taking off as soon as it gets clearance.(飛機在得到許可後就會立刻起飛。)security clearance尤指安全調查、忠貞調查或參與機密的資格。

turn the tide:片語,指造成局勢逆轉,如The government had planned cuts in the armed forces, but when war broke out, the military saw a chance to turn the tide.(政府原打算裁軍,但隨後戰爭爆發,軍方發現了逆轉情勢的機會。)

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