Joan Clarke

English cryptanalyst

  • Fame57.8
  • Momentum1.7
  • Wikipedia31.9K
Source-basedFalling
Lived 1917–1996, aged 79United Kingdom
  • Wikipedia
    29 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1917–1996
    Aged 79
  • Awards
    1
    recognised work
Summary
Updated 2026-06-21

She broke German codes at Bletchley Park while the war hung in the balance, one of the few women inside the Enigma operation — and spent decades after in quiet obscurity.

Biography

About

Joan Clarke was born 24 June 1917 in England and became a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, working on the Enigma project that cracked German military communications. She did not seek recognition, but her contribution to decrypting secret messages earned her appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1946. After the war she pursued numismatics and lived away from public attention. She died 4 September 1996.

Where to find them

Platforms

No platforms connected yet.

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
57.8
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum1.7
Historical23.4
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Global rank
Country rank
Category rank
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence