Enigma code-breaker and professor dies in Capital

Published on Friday 28 October 2005 14:15

A RENOWNED language expert who helped crack the Enigma code has died in Edinburgh at the age of 91.

During the Second World War, Professor Angus McIntosh was based at Bletchley Park and was one of the cryptographers and translators who decoded signals encrypted by Germany's famous Enigma machine.

During a distinguished career at Edinburgh University, Prof McIntosh became known for his linguistics expertise.

During the war he was one of a team of code-breakers who were successfully deciphering enemy codes, often within a few hours of the messages being received.

In 1948 he came to Edinburgh as the first Forbes Professor of English Language and General Linguistics and spent the rest of his career in the city.

He was one of the prime movers in the founding of the School of Scottish Studies and of the Department of Linguistics, and of the Linguistic Survey of Scotland.

Last year, Prof McIntosh was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Edinburgh University in which his groundbreaking work was acknowledged.

In the graduation address, Professor Heinz Giegerich said: "Angus McIntosh is a man who combines broad and eclectic interests with a focused determination to undertake pioneering projects of colossal size and importance."