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Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, poses next to the Bank of England's new 50-pound note featuring mathematician Alan Turing, in Manchester, England, on July 15, 2019. OLI SCARFF / AFP

The Bank of England's decision is the face of the mathematician Alan Turing who will illustrate the 50-pound notes. The work of this hero of the Second World War took several decades to be rehabilitated.

He is a genius of mathematics who never knew his hour of glory in his lifetime. And yet, Alan Turing is considered the father of computing and artificial intelligence.

Born in 1912 in London, he plays a key role in the decoding of the Enigma machine, used by the Germans during the Second World War. To do this, he develops a machine called "the bomb", able to decipher any enemy coded messaging system. A job that gives a decisive advantage to the Allies until the end of the conflict.

Yet, at the end of the war, Alan Turing is not treated as a hero because his work is classified Secret Defense. He resumed his mathematical research and played a pivotal role in the development of the first computers, when he worked at the National Physical Laboratory, then at the University of Manchester. He also develops a test, called "Turing test", which is one of the first studies of artificial intelligence machines.

Sentenced for homosexuality, he was only pardoned in 2013

Homosexual, the mathematician is condemned in 1952 for indecency and sexual perversion and undergoes chemical castration. He committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 41, and it was only in 2009 that the British state apologized for the treatment he was given. Alan Turing is pardoned by the queen posthumously in 2013 .

" It's only fitting that we remember her legacy and the brilliant contribution that LGBT people have made to our country, " Prime Minister Theresa May said on Twitter.

Alan Turing's pioneering work in mathematics and computer science played a crucial part in ending the Second World War. It is only fitting that we remember his legacy and the brilliant contribution LGBT people have made to our country on the new £ 50 note. https://t.co/tFsVdvcKNp

Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 15, 2019

Tickets with his image, including a mathematical formula and a picture of one of the first computers, will not be in circulation before 2021.

Several films have been made on Alan Turing's extraordinary career , including Morten Tyldum's 2014 American-British film Immitation Game .

►Also read: What do we owe to Alan Turing?