Henryk Zygalski

Early life and studies

He was born in July 1908 in Poznań. He attended the St Mary Magdalene Grammar School and from 1926 to 1932 studied mathematics at the University of Poznań (master's degree in 1932). As a third-year student he was admitted to the secret cryptology course organised by the university at the request of military intelligence.^1,2,3

At the Cipher Bureau

In autumn 1929 he began working at the Poznań signals intelligence station in the Citadel, while continuing to work at the university. After the branch was closed in 1932 he moved with Rejewski and Różycki to the Cipher Bureau in the Saxon Palace in Warsaw.^2,3

He helped to break Enigma in December 1932. He devised the perforated sheets that made it possible to determine the order of the rotors. In July 1939 the team's results were presented to French and British delegations in the Kabaty Forest.¹

War

In September 1939 he was evacuated with Rejewski and Różycki to Romania; from Bucharest, with the help of the French embassy, they reached France and resumed work at the “P.C. Bruno” centre near Paris. After the defeat of France they were taken to Algiers, and in September 1940 they returned to the Vichy zone, to the secret “P.C. Cadix” centre.^1,2

After the Germans occupied southern France (November 1942) he and Rejewski crossed into Spain, where both were arrested. After their release (according to the AW in May 1943; dzieje.pl points to help from the Polish Red Cross) they travelled through Madrid, Portugal and Gibraltar to Great Britain. There he joined the Polish Army and worked in the signals intelligence company of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief at Stanmore-Boxmoor.^1,2

After the war

He remained in exile in Great Britain and taught mathematics at a provincial school. In 1977 he received an honorary doctorate from the Polish University Abroad (PUNO) in London. He died on 30 August 1978 in Liss near Portsmouth and was buried in London. In February 2000 he was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.^1,2,3

Together with Rejewski and Różycki he is commemorated by the plaque at Bletchley Park; his relatives attended the unveiling of the plaque to the Polish cryptologists in the London church of St Andrew Bobola (2019).^4,5