World War II code breaker Alan Turing is to be celebrated on a special stamp.
The brilliant mathematician, who lived in Wilmslow, will feature in a set of ten 1st class stamps to commemorate the best of British.
Released on 23rd February, the Britons of Distinction stamps, celebrating prominent Britons, will also include SOE heroine Odette Hallowes, composer Frederick Delius and the Golden Jubilee of Coventry Cathedral which is marked by honouring its architect Sir Basil Spence.
Alan Turing was most famous for breaking the German Enigma codes during the Second World War. In 1999 Time Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century and in 1999 Gordon Brown issued an apology for the "appalling"and "utterly unfair" treatment he received.
In 1952 he was convicted of "gross indecency", after admitting to being homosexual, and was sentenced to chemical castration and given a series of injections of female hormones to reduce his sex drive. His security privileges were also withdrawn meaning he could no longer work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters. Turing killed himself two years later aged 41.
Royal Mail's 2012 Special Stamp programme is set to celebrate a very memorable year in the UK's heritage, with both the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee being celebrated in stamps issued throughout the year.
Royal Mail's celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will commence with the House of Windsor stamps issued on 2nd February, featuring the five monarchs from the start of the 20th century with The Queen taking pride of place on the final stamp marking the 60th year of her reign.
The Jubilee celebrations continue on 31st May with the issuing of a set of eight stamps featuring striking images of Her Majesty the Queen taken across the six decades of her reign.
The first of several stamp issues celebrating the London 2012 Games will go on sale on 5th January. Other stamps will be issued throughout the year to celebrate the London 2012 Games, including for the first time ever Gold Medal stamps to mark Team GB Olympic victories.
