.
Mr. Turning is considered to be the father of modern computing. He was also a key British cryptologist during World War II.
.
What is kind of odd (particularly in light of the post below on Same Sex Marriage) is that he went unheralded for years because he was gay. And, in 1952, being gay was quite the security kurfuffle in Britain. So, despite doing the primary and first work in breaking the Nazi's Enigma code machine, and working int he war office since the 1930s - providing some real ground breaking work, Alan Turning was found guilty of homosexuality..
He was given the choice of permanent imprisonment or chemical hormonal therapy (essentially chemical castration). He committed suicide.