Emily Anderson (17 March 1891 – 26 October 1962) was an Irish scholar of German ancestry, music historian and cryptanalyst at the British Government Code and Cipher School (now GCHQ) for almost 30 years.
Early life
Anderson was born in Galway, Ireland, the daughter of physicist Alexander Anderson, a Presbyterian from Coleraine, and his wife Emily Gertrude Binns. Alexander Anderson became president of Queens College Galway (QCG) in 1899.
She was educated privately and won the Browne Scholarship in both 1909 and 1910 at QCG, where she received a B.A. in 1911.
Career in cryptanalysis
Anderson was approached to join MI1b, the cryptanalysis section of the British War Office, in the autumn of 1917 and she moved to London to take up duty in July 1918. She was initially trained to join the Hush WAACs in France but was never deployed. She remained with GC&CS, working primarily on Hungarian codes, until her retirement in November 1950.