The Woman Who Smashed Codes

by Jason Fagone

Elizebeth even went as far as admitting, “Vile creature that he was in many ways, George Fabyan really launched two or three things that were of vital importance to this country,” which was true. For all his malice and superstition, Fabyan threw enough money at actual scientists to accelerate the discovery of actual knowledge. He funded investigations of Nature with a fortune that other tycoons would have spent on yachts and jewels. He succeeded in creating the first real code-breaking institution in America, Riverbank Laboratories, an idea factory christened by wartime realities. It not only forged a new science of immense power; it also spawned a love affair that spread the science and ultimately sharpened it into an antifascist weapon. The modern-day universe of codes and ciphers began in a cottage on the prairie, with a pair of young lovers smiling at each other across a table and a rich man urging them to be spectacular.