Dr Tony Shaw: Alan Turing, Sackville Park, Manchester

17 July 2011

Alan Turing, Sackville Park, Manchester

Libellés : AIDS, Manchester (UK), Turing (Alan)

Alan Turing, Sackville Park, near the Gay Village, Manchester. I have to be careful about posts on subjects I know nothing about, as there's always someone picking me up on errors. OK, I know nothing of Mathematics, and I've been corrected before about Alan Turing, as in my previous post here.

In his hand is an apple: he killed himself with a cyanide-laced one aged 41, after being forced to undergo 'treatment' for his homosexuality.

'Alan Mathison Turing

1912-1954

Father of Computer Science

Mathematician, Logician

Wartime Codebreaker

Victim of Prejudice'

________________________

'Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth

but supreme beauty, a beauty cold and austere

like that of sculpture' - Bertrand Russell

'THE BEACON OF HOPE

The "BEACON OF HOPE" and "TREE OF LIFE" is [sic] dedicated to all those

who have lost their lives to HIV / AIDS and those living with and affected

by the virus. The Beacon is a permanent awareness of the

threat of HIV / AIDS to every individual person.

______________________________

'This project has been made possible thanks to the generous

contributions from:-

_______________________________

'Black HIV & AIDS forum; Body Positive North West; Clone Zone; Diana,

Princess of Wales Memorial Fund; George House Trust; Lesbian & Gay

Foundation; Lifeline Project; Manchester City Council; Manchester Health

Authority; Manchester Lesbian & Gay Mardi Gras; Massow Financial

Consultants; Sackville Park Project; The Trafford Centre; The Village

Project; the Village enterprises who have held fundraising events for this

project, and not least all the customers who have supported this project.

'The Beacon of Hope was designed by

Warren Chapman and Jesse Byrne-Daniel.'

'THE TREE OF LIFE

This TREE was planted by the Lord Mayor and

the Lady Mayoress on behalf of the

Village charity, in memory of those lost to

HIV / AIDS

World AIDS day 1st December 1993

________________________________________

'This area surrounding the TREE was improved

in the summer of 2000 as part of the

BEACON OF HOPE project.'

2 comments:

The Plashing Vole said...: It's one of the most moving memorials I know. And I especially like its placement between the city's gay quarter (though I'm not sure he'd have been entirely comfortable with its more exuberant outlets) and the universities: both sides of him remembered.

One unconfirmed rumour is that Apple's name/logo is a quiet tribute to Turing.; 18 July 2011 at 13:12
Dr Tony Shaw said...: Thanks for this - it is indeed a striking piece of work.

Interesting about the possible derivation of Apple, too.; 18 July 2011 at 15:04