Henryk Zygalski

Henryk Zygalski (IPAudio|Zygalski.ogg| ['xɛnrɨk zɨ'galski] ; 1906 - 1978) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before and during World War II. Zygalski was, from September 1932, a civilian cryptologist with the Polish General Staff's "Biuro Szyfrów" (Cipher Bureau), housed in the Saxon Palace in Warsaw. He worked there with fellow Poznań University alumni and Cipher Bureau cryptology-course graduates Marian Rejewski and Jerzy Różycki. Together they developed methods and equipment for breaking Enigma messages.

In late 1938, in response to growing complexities in German encryption procedures, Zygalski designed the "perforated sheets," also known as "Zygalski sheets," a manual device for finding Enigma settings. This scheme, like the earlier "card catalog," was independent of the number of connections being used in the Enigma's plugboard, or commutator.

After the war he remained in exile in the United Kingdom and worked as a lecturer in mathematical statistics at the University of Surrey until his retirement. During this period he was prevented from talking about his achievements in cryptography by the Official Secrets Act. He died August 30, 1978 in Liss and is buried in London. Shortly before his death he was credited for his role in breaking the Enigma and awarded with doctorate honoris causa of the Polish Exiled University.

More information about Zygalski may be found in the article on Marian Rejewski.

ee also

* Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
* List of cryptographers
* Zygalski sheets
* Marian Rejewski
* Enigma (2001 film)

References

* Władysław Kozaczuk, "Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War II", edited and translated by Christopher Kasparek, Frederick, MD, University Publications of America, 1984.